Extreme Circumstances
by fee-kh
Summary: In a world in which Manticore is not the evil corporation we all know, Alec is sent on a mission by his superiour to save their best undercover agent. Crazyness as well as the pulse ensue to make the life of our two favourite people difficult.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is very different from my usual DA fics and it came to me while struggling with the third chapter of Hope. Those of you that have read that and some of my other stuff know how long ago that was.

But back to this one. It is extremely AU and once again those of you that have read my other stuff know that I prefer it that way. I hope the changes are recognisable without me having to put up signposts. Nothing irritates me more than people who have a list of changes in the author's note. Puts me right out of the story. If it is not obvious what I have changed then I am not doing my job properly. Just go with it and hopefully I will answer all questions, except of course those I mean to leave open.

On a plus note I have the first 16000 (cool, eh?) written and will post every two days. Tne NWP are four chapters ahead, and I will always post there first, even when this catches up.

Oh and there is a reference in here of a third show that is for my beta. She is a rabid fan, so I thought I would make her day in a big way.

Disclaimer: Once more unto the breach. Anything you recognise ain't mine. Everything else is.

The soldier marched into the debriefing room, eyes carefully trained into the middle distance. A casual observer would be hard pressed to read his blank expression. Coming to a halt he snapped off a picture perfect salute to the man sitting behind the desk.

His superior officer cast a proud, almost paternal, glance over him, subtly checking for any visible injuries, while marvelling once more how well this experiment was working. Far surpassing all expectations the brains behind the scheme might have had, maybe it was time to lay the word 'experiment' to rest once and for all.

Not for the first time he thanked anybody who might be listening that compassionate common sense had prevailed over the hard-headed military minds clamouring for complete control. Treating these transgenic soldiers, the end result of decades of military R&D, as dumb genetic abnormalities would have been a waste of the intelligence and talents they had so painstakingly spliced into their DNA. Early on, psychiatrists, consulted at the time, had advised for providing familial patterns instead of the clinical, dispassionate environment first envisioned. Granted the training these kids had absolved would have made the hardest navy seal cry for mercy, but they had one and all passed with flying colours.

And now he had under his command several battalions of fiercely loyal soldiers under his command. Committed to each other and the county they called home, far above mere genius in the intelligence stakes and with an almost uncanny knack for pulling off even the most harebrained schemes.

He gazed at the young man in front of him whose above average looks and quirky charm hid the mind of a military strategist on par with the Duke of Wellington and the will to do anything necessary to protect his country and those he considered his family.

"X5-494 reporting for debriefing, sir!"

The soldier's voice snapped him back to the present and the officer allowed a small proud smile to grace his lips.

"At ease, soldier."

494 relaxed his stance, hands loosely clasped behind his back.

"Report soldier."

Still staring at some random point above and behind his superior officer's head, the soldier answered.

"Minimal resistance, sir. Extraction was quick and uneventful. 511 and myself accomplished the mission within the defined parameters." A slight smirk played on the soldier's lips.

"So why is it that I have been getting reports about a bunch of metalheads running around Seattle like a bunch of maddened hornets looking for the and I quote 'fifty big ass monsters' who beat them up and had 'we heart mum' tattooed on their foreheads?"

"Couldn't say, sir." The soldier kept his face carefully blank.

"And are they likely to find these fifty big ass monsters?"

The smirk was back in full force. "I wouldn't think so, sir."

"Well, then. Mission successfully accomplished I see. Congratulations. The senator is most pleased to have his daughter back unharmed. 511 and you will receive commendations I should think. You could add them to your other hundred." The last was said with only the faintest irony.

"Thank you, General Lydecker, sir."

The colonel waived this off, marvelling once more at 494's wicked sense of humour. Lydecker signed off on the report and closed the file, signalling that the official part of the meeting was over. He waved towards the more comfortable chairs set up in the corner.

"Have a seat, Alec." Lydecker walked over to the mini-bar. "Drink?"

Alec's eyebrow rose in surprise. Drink was a serious no-no in the army, but he made no comment.

"Scotch if you have it, sir. Thank you."

Lydecker poured them both a generous dram, then walked over to where 494, known to friends and superiors alike as Alec, sat relaxed in an armchair.

"Sir. If I may be so bold. What's up?"

Lydecker raised a quizzical eyebrow, waiting for the young man to continue.

"You only offer me a drink, sir, when you are trying to butter me up, sir."

Lydecker smirked. "What gives you the idea I'm trying to butter you up?"

"Well, sir. Last time you offered me a drink I slogged through the Sahara for three days looking for a black box. Time before that was that clusterfuck down in East Timor. Then there was the time the SAS fubarred their extraction of a wanted criminal. Was shot in the ass on that one, sir. And then.."

"Enough, enough. You've made your point. We've made you way too intelligent I see." There was no censure in his tone. Lydecker knew full well he sent Alec on the more interesting missions. He decided that maybe it would be best to lay all his cards on the table. Well most of his cards. Wouldn't do to play his joker this early in the game, just in case Alec played hardball.

"You're right of course. I am trying to butter you up. After four missions back to back nobody deserves some downtime more than you. I could send somebody else. There would be a good chance of success, but you are our best and surest bet.

Alec merely nodded for him to continue. He knew this already. In an environment that made the marine training camp look like a bunch of boy scouts on a field trip, he was counted among the best of the best.

Lydecker continued: "One of our deep infiltrations went south. Our agent was made early this morning by the bunch of militant rednecks under surveillance. We have to extract our agent before she's lynched or worse."

Alec still didn't understand why he had to go, there were countless others who could be sent in his place.

"The FBI asked for our help a couple of months ago. Young girls have been disappearing in that area for decades. They think it goes back as far as the 1870s. They never managed to pin anybody in all those years, mainly because nobody connected the dots. The kidnappings were only a couple, a decade and the physiognomies are rarely a match. A young agent made the connection and managed to convince his boss. Not an easy task I am assured. I believe you know him."

Alec grinned. "Fox did that? Knew he had it in him."

"Granted his theories are a little more out of this world, but the theory is sound. And that is what convinced Skinner. Anyway they were still coming up blank. Not surprising, considering these perps have had years to perfect their methods. So they kindly requested our aid. And now here we are. Intel is patchy and we lost communication yesterday. Atmospheric storm or something. The implant you all have is of course still working, so we know she is still alive, but we can't wait. Who knows what trouble she is in. Somebody has to go there and get her out.

Alec was still confused: "Why me, sir? This is the kind of stuff we could do in kindergarden. Any one of us could do this."

'Time to bring out the big guns' Lydecker thought. "I want to send you, Alec, because you're 452's best chance."

Alec's mind was on the fritz. "Come again, sir?"

"You are 452's, Max's, best chance of getting out of there in one piece. The only reason she is still alive is that we believe they will want to get information from her."

Alec's face was blank as his mind flashed through thousands of memories of soft, haughty, angry, spitting mad and laughing brown eyes. All his memories at Manticore were tied to the pintsize female who had challenged him in every discipline Manticore threw at them. Sometimes he came out on top through sheer superior strength and sometimes she did. The two of them were the pinnacle of Manticore training, nobody was better.

"I'll do it, sir."

Lydecker nodded, knowing that as soon as he had mentioned Max the conclusion had been foregone.

"Dismissed, soldier. Report for briefing in one hour."

"Sir, yes, sir."

As soon as Lydecker was once again alone he mused on the fact that this latest little disaster provided the perfect scenario to finally get those two boneheads to mesh into a team. Alone they were a force to be reckoned with but if they ever became true partners nothing would stand in their way.

Added to that was the fact that the UST was putting a strain on the whole regiment.

Alec absently wandered the halls of Manticore, mind racing a mile a minute. Max had been made. X5-452 the queen of the undercover mission, who excelled at blending into any given situation, had been made.

Something was very wrong there. There was no question about it.

Max was his to save.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

A/N: The crossover is coming, I promise, just not in this chapter. Next one for sure.

The briefing turned out to be mercifully short. Max's had been a recon mission. To establish a persona and gather intel. But somewhere along the line things had gone terribly wrong. Alec's mission was to go in, assess the situation and get her out. Given the opportunity he should also incapacitate the kidnappers. Lydecker had no doubts that one way or another Alec would avenge anything Max had been inflicted with. And if she wasn't completely incapacitated and chose to help him, well god have mercy on anyone foolish enough to stand in their way.

Lydecker mused to himself that he had better start coming up with damage control pitches. Given both Alec's and Max's penchance for blowing things up, anything was possible.

Alec's calm laidback appearance belied his churning stomach. Manticore's air support had dropped him off about 20 miles south of Bumsville or whatever the place was called. Well, dropped off him and the beaten up old truck he was driving.

The windows were rolled down, allowing the warm breeze to play with his hair. Country music blasted from the speaker. All in all he looked about as harmless as one could be, a simple farmhand en route from one job to another.

The appearance was a complete fabrication of course. The beat-up red truck was in fact a state of the art armour plated off road truck with more nifty gadgets than even Q could come up with in a year. The country music masked the intel Manticore was transmitting in the ultrasonic range, far beyond the hearing range of the average Joe. Of course it had the annoying side effect of sending all dogs in the vicinity howling to the hills, but Alec didn't really care for dogs much anyway.

Max's last known position was the primary school where she had been subbing as a teacher. It seemed that in this particular case Manticore had decided to follow the old wisdom: "From the mouths of babes" It was as good a place to start as any. Children tended to speak before thinking.

Alec shrugged, rolling his shoulders to relieve the tension. He'd find out more when he got there.

Finding a place to park his truck was easier than he had thought. The car park servicing the school was mostly empty and security seemed as non-existent as the traffic as Alec made his way into the building, hitching his overalls as he went. Affecting a slightly slouchy walk he tipped his hat further back on his head going for the good old farm boy look. He'd contemplated chewing a haystalk but that seemed like overkill.

And he probably wouldn't have been able to convincingly pull off the cliché with a straight face. Some things just were too much. As he walked past classroom filled with the warm haze of students desperately trying to stay awake in the summer heat, following the signs for the office, he once more went through the intel Manticore had provided him with.

Max had set herself up as the innocent, friendly, slightly naïve primary school teacher. When Alec had seen the picture he had been more than impressed, once more realising why Max had excelled as undercover. Even the name had fit, a sly nod to the comics the nurses used to sneak in to them when they were young. Mary-Jane Watson was your quintessential middle American, corn-fed, apple-pie girl next door. Hair pulled away from her clean face with barrettes to tumble down her back. A pair of spectacles perched on the end of her pert little nose and she was smiling shyly into the camera. Nothing like the little spitfire he remembered from their last training exercise.

Well, he would find out what happened to her. Or to be honest, AJ Hutchins, her boyfriend, would find out. But first he would have to charm his way past the battleaxe who no doubt guarded the office.

Pasting his best happy-go-lucky smile on his face, he first knocked on the office door and then ambled inside.

"Yes?" The voice was strict, invoking elements of judgement and falling short. Projecting with a single word that no matter how important you seemed to think your problem was, it would no doubt turn out to be entirely trivial and a complete waste of time. Sharp blue eyes glared at him from a prim, middle-aged face. Her hair had been ruthlessly pinned back, not a single strand daring to leave the strictly imposed rigidity. The clothes were on the ultra-side of conservative and in the grey end of the spectrum. All in all Ms. Finnegan, as her nameplate proclaimed, was a truly impressive figure. No doubt inspiring fear into the heart of every student walking these hallowed halls. It was wasted on Alec of course, who had faced more terrifying sights on a daily basis.

"Mornin'!" He poured on the charm in a Texas drawl, which nine times out of ten brought a favourable reaction from the female population. "Sorry to disturb you, ma'am." He tipped his hat. "Ah'm looking for ma girl. Cute as a button she is."

He leaned forward conspiratorially, slightly fatuous grin in place. "Ya see. Ah haven't seen her in just about forever. We're savin for our own place. But ah thought, yer in t'area, why shouldn't ya visit yer girl."

The battleaxe hadn't mellowed in the slightest, unmoved by her appeal to her romantic side. "Get to the point young man. I don't have all day."

Alec smiled at her once more, unfazed. "So sorry, ma'am. I get to talking about my Mary-Jane and I just forget -"

"Mary-Jane Watson?" Ms. Finnegan interrupted him, her countenance softening considerably. "You're her boyfriend?"

"That I am, ma'am. Well, ah wanted to ask her to marry me this visit."

Ms. Finnegan smiled weakly. "She is such a nice young woman. The children all adore her. I didn't know she was in a relationship."

'Why am I not surprised?' Alec asked himself. 'Of course Max is the one to breach Ms. Finnegan's formidable defences.'

Out loud he just smiled and said: "She don't talk much bout us. We've been working so long to getting together, ah guess we're just both fraid to jinx it." He sheepishly dragged a hand through his hair, chafing inside at the snail's pace he had to put up with. "So where is she. I've a mind to grab her outta class and greet her properly."

Ms. Finnegan smiled weakly, worry evident in her face: "I don't know where she is. She was coming over for dinner after parent-teacher night, but never showed. I tried reaching her this morning, but she isn't answering her phone."

Alec let his face become serious. The accent subtly dropping from his words. "Can you let me know which parents she was aiming to see? Maybe one of them knows what was bothering her."

Ms Finnegan bristled startled. "That is confidential information, Mr Hutchens." Even as she spoke though she half-turned to her left and picked up a pale pink folder. Flipping through it she pulled out a single sheet of A4 and then walked to the back of the room to make a copy on the wheezing, out of date Xerox machine. Laying it on the desk between them, she let one hand rest lightly on top, making no move to push it the rest of the way to Alec.

"Such terrible things happen in this area. Young girls disappearing, never to be seen again." Ms. Finnegan's voice was quiet.

Alec staid silent, too, knowing that she needed to get something off her chest, another five minutes more or less wouldn't change anything and something in Ms. Finnegan seemed to have recognised that Mary-Jane was more than the substitute teacher she was claiming to be. Good instincts on her part.

"Mary-Jane is such a good girl. A caring heart. Perhaps too caring. It doesn't do to ask questions in this town. Little girls disappearing and then years later you see one who looks exactly like your little girl, hair maybe a shade darker, thinner, sadder. And you think it is your little girl come back, but there is no spark of recognition and maybe you have gone mad from the grief like everyone insists you have."

She stopped once more and Alec looked away, allowing her to compose herself, only meeting her now dry-eyed gaze when she spoke up once more.

"I don't want Mary-Jane to be just another statistic. And when you find her, give her my best." She finally pushed the list across the table.

"Thank you Ms. Finnegan. I'll do my very best."

Some of the old strictness crept back into her tone. "See that you do, Mr?"

Alec hesitated for a moment, then decided to go with his gut. "McDowell, ma'am. Alec McDowell."

"That's a fine name, Mr McDowell. You'll be wanting to get along now."

Alec tipped his hat once more. "Goodbye and thanks for your help."

"Goodbye, Mr McDowell." She turned back to her work, briskly efficient once more as she went through time tables and sick lists.

Alec, after one last glance, quickly left the school and made his way back to his car. Next stop was Max's house. See if there were any clues there.

Max's house was exceedingly neat and tidy. It was immediately and painfully obvious that Manticore had done the decorating to fit the persona. Pastel colours prevailed, as well as fluttery, lacey and fluffy things. It was clear to him and anybody who knew Max well, that it was just embellishment. A well-cared for painting but nothing more.

The house smelled of spring and sunshine, a warm breeze coming through the open window carried with it the sweet smell of freshly cut hay. A brief yearning filled Alec's soul, wondering what it would be like to live in a place like this, the whole picket fences deal, maybe with a cat curled up on the hearth ad somebody to share it with him. Maybe..

He shook himself.. He was a soldier with a duty to his company and his country. This whole picket fences deal wasn't for him. He was one of those that made sure it was possible for others.

Walking up the stairs, past the generic paintings and photographs that could be in any house, he found Max's room by scent alone. While still bordering on the pink explosion side of things at least this room looked lived in. A brush and comb set were scattered on the vanity, a towel had been hung to dry over a chair by the window. A dress, conforming to the whole frilly, naïve girly girl formula hung on a clothes hanger, shoes neatly set out beneath, no doubt what Max had been planning to wear to school that day.

He finally found part of what he was looking for on the far bedside table. Three picture frames sat on it. Two obviously provided by Manticore. The first was the standard loving parents pictures on front of a generic house that could be anywhere in America. A slightly younger Max smiling brightly between two adults, the psych doc and his wife if Alec wasn't mistaken. They had enough passing resemblance to fill the parental role. The second was the classic kid with dog picture.

But tucked behind the two was the picture he had in fact been looking for, Max and her siblings. It had been a surprise from Manticore for their graduation day. Again, to the casual observer it would simply look like your generic leaving ceremony picture, class of something or other. A group of about twenty sixteen-year-olds in their caps and gowns beaming at the camera. But to them all it meant so much more, their family, each face as familiar as their own, something to take with undercover and remind them what they fought for.

Alec's finger traced the faces of Max's familial unit. Zach, CO and oh so serious when it came to the safety of his siblings no matter how capable they were at keeping themselves safe. Jondy, the explosive munitions expert, Eva, who could clip the wings off a fly at two hundred paces with her custom-made rifle. Ben, his biological twin, if not where it counted, who according to the latest scuttlebutt was undercover somewhere in the Midwest as a high school teacher. Apparently he was investigating some astronomical events. Max would kill him if this was left behind and there would not be time to come back and get it afterwards. As he picked it up, he felt a faint crackle beneath his fingertips. Puzzled he flipped the frame over and saw a browned flower tucked in the back.

"Now why on earth would Max keep an old flower like this?" His voice echoed slightly in the empty house. It obviously meant something to Max, otherwise she wouldn't have it tucked away where it was safe and could not be seen.

Unbidden a picture entered his mind, of twirling a blossom much like this one between his fingers. He and Max had been sent to a park in San Francisco to observe a drug drop-off. They'd been posing as a couple of shy teenagers on a date. Lying on a blanket on the grass, the sun beating down on them from a cloudless sky, Max lying beside him, dozing in the sun, her half-closed eyes trained on their mark. When Alec had noticed the dealer staring at them suspiciously, he had leaned over Max and tucked the blossom behind one ear.

Unlikely that it was the same flower of course, to faded to tell in any case. He left it where it was and then briskly moved around the room, packing Max's things. Well those she normally wore anyway and not the things Mary-Jane Watson seemed to like. Jeans, pullovers, tees and tank tops were all neatly packed into a duffle, followed by underwear and her toiletries. Finally he placed the three pictures on top.

Zipping up the duffle he had one last look around to see if he had forgotten anything and then left to wait for sundown. There were preparations to be made and then he would work his way through the list until he found Max.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

Let's see who can guess our Buffy character first. Not like it is hard. Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and those who C2ed this, favourited it and alerted it. Much appreciated. Not to sound whiney but I like reviews too. Come on leave me a note. Pretty please with a cherry on top?

Word of warning. This chapter deals with torture to an extent, so the rating has been upped for the whole story.

"God, I hope Murphy is keeping her big nose out of this." Alec muttered to himself. It would suck the big one if the last house he looked at (first on the list) turned out to be the one where Max was being held. It had seemed like such a logical plan, to work back to front. After all there would have been comments if one of the earlier sets of parents had caused Max to vanish. But so far, with two houses down already, Alec had nothing to show for his efforts. Except for dirt in interesting places and one or two hundred mosquito bites. Family one lived in the middle of town and was a dud. Family two had been away, so Alec had searched the entire property without seeing hide nor hair of Max.

Now he was sneaking through heavy woodlands, on his way to family three, somebody called Maclay, if his memory wasn't failing him. And this one looked like a winner.

"Whoa! This isn't a home. It's a bloody commune." Alec couldn't keep his surprise to himself. From his vantage point on a slight hill behind the group of buildings, he could easily see that the complex was made up of almost thirty houses. Groups of men were everywhere, some toting guns and clearly on guard duty, others standing around in groups and chatting. Besides the normal lights, there were spotlights installed on every corner, making it doubly necessary to avoid detection. This posed a problem, as checking every house would take forever. And while the chip Manticore had implanted in them all showed that Max wasn't mortally wounded so far, who knew how long that would last.

Alec watched for another twenty minutes to see if there was a pattern to the guards movements that would at least limit the amount of houses he would have to search. Luck was on his side. Some of the men down below were closing in on a girl of about fifteen who was carrying a bowl of what seemed to be water. He crept closer until he was in listening distance,

"- you doin' out here, this time of night?" This came from an older man, with greying hair and a mean cast to his features.

"I'm sorry, elder. I thought to take some water and mayhap make the new sister more comfortable." The girls voice was quivering with some strong emotion and she flinched when her words were met with raucous laughter.

"You thought?" The venom in the elder's voice made the girl shrink further in on herself.

"No, elder. I'm sorry. I didn't think."

"No, you didn't did you? Run along now Susie, this is no time for good little girls to be out of the house where they belong. Your mother will be waiting for you to help with the woman's work."

Little Susie nodded her head so hard Alec was afraid it might bobble right off and scurried back the way she had come.

One of the younger men in the group laughed once more. "Women! Carry their brain twixt their legs. Didja see how she was carryin on. Little liar. Wanted to sneak off and entice a man, I tell ya."

"That's enough, Jack." The elder interrupted him. "Take Ken and see if you can get anything out of the teacher girl. She's been all alone in the dark for awhile now, mayhap she is ready for some company and some talking."

Alec couldn't believe it. Proof that Max was here and his very own guides to show him the way. Sliding sinuously from shadow to shadow, Alec followed the two men. He didn't have to worry about line of sight as the two were making enough noise to keep a deaf and blind person on their trail. Of course, giving the topic of their discussion the two would never know that the only thing staying Alec's hand was the fact that they were leading the way to Max. Throughout their stroll the two were discussing the relative merits of Susie and how it was about time she was broken in and taught her proper place in their world and maybe they were just the men to do it. With a grimly determined expression Alec held himself in check, not willing to let his emotions spoil this. He and Max would come back later and get them all.

Silently, skilfully he followed the two men to the largest house in the compound, then, when they went in side the trail of rooms they crossed as they lit up and then went dark again behind them. It came as no surprise to see that they were on their way to the cellar. Two-bit thugs always held their victims in the cellar. There was probably a handbook or something. Looking through a window near floor level, Alec saw that of all things it was a wine cellar.

"I thought communes usually belonged to the abstaining sort or people." Alec muttered to himself as he jimmied open the external access, oiled the hinges and then soundlessly slipped through the gap, closing the door behind him.

Moving as carefully as twenty-four years of Manticore training could make him, he threaded his way past rack after rack of ancient, cob-web encrusted shelves filled with dusty bottles of dubious content. A light glowed in the far corner, providing enough illumination to see by and as he got closer he could also hear the murmur of voices and the dull sound of fists meeting flesh.

Finally a single row of shelves separated him from his quarry. There was just enough of a chink between the top of the bottles and the bottom of the shelf above for him to see through and assess the situation. What he saw almost made him run out without regard to seeing how many enemies there might and be and what the situation really was.

Blinking dazedly into the spotlight pointed right at her sat Max, eyes somewhat glazed and unfocused. She had been stripped down to her underwear and judging by the thin cuts traversing her body said stripping had been done with a very sharp instrument, probably a knife. The torn remnants lay scattered on the floor around her chair. Bruises marched up and down her exposed skin, some markings like hands and others just livid shades where blunt force had been applied. Her head was swaying from side to side, blood smeared both from where her lip had split from a punch and from an angry gash that went across her forehead at an angle. Blood dribbled steadily from both, marring her complexion and highlighting her pallor.

The two men were joking around and laughing, daring each other to 'hit her again'. One of them was slowly rubbing his bloodied knuckles, the signet ring he sported probably the source of Max's gash.

It worried Alec that Max was simply sitting there and taking the punishment. It should be nothing for her to simply snap the restraints they had on her. No matter than her arms were tied back along the chair at an almost unnatural angle. This meant that that they had managed to drug her at some point. If that was true it would make saving her a little bit harder and his revenge that much worse.

"She ain't listening no more, Jack." The taller of the two said.

Ken half-heartedly gave Max another slap, then brightened, his face taking on a sadistic glint.

"Yer, right, but I can think me something we aint tried yet."

"Watcha mean?" Jack obviously wasn't the brighter of the two.

"I haven't had a good ride in ages." Ken grinned, hitching his trousers.

Jack smiled as he caught on. "S'right, Ken. Me, neither."

"Bet she's a screamer."

Max weakly began to struggle as their intent penetrated her drugged mind. This was not something Manticore could prepare its soldiers for.

Ken leered at her, then leaned in and gave her a breast a vicious tug that made Max buck and whimper.

The effect was instantaneous on both Max and Alec. The former felt an adrenaline burst that began to battle the drug haze and started to plan her escape and the latter felt a red haze rise up in himself, clouding his vision and fogging his mind. A growl rumbled in his chest, fists clenching so hard his nails left half-moon indentations in his palms. Then the haze took over and he burst into action.

When he came to, the haze finally lifting, he was breathing harder than he did after a double marathon, chest rising and falling rapidly, fists still clenched and staring down at the broken, bloodied, not dead, bodies of Jack and Ken. Slowly he looked at Max, gaze travelling from her bare feet to her eyes, cataloguing every scratch, cut and bruise.

Looked up into her eyes that blazed with something, some emotion he could not place but that spoke to something deep inside him, calmed the beast.

Max smiled at him, wincing slightly when the move re-opened her split lip. "What took you so long?"

Alec grinned, tension falling from him like a shroud. "Had to get the sand from my boots first."

A pained giggle escaped her as she wiggled slightly. Alec smiled once more and then pulled out his butterfly knife, slicing through the ropes that bound her arms and legs with ease, all the while fighting the -in his mind - ridiculous notion of simply yanking her out of her chair and hugging the stuffing out of her.

Max immediately tried to stand, only to fall back again, as her legs refused to hold her weight.

"Easy there, Max. You've been tied up for a while. Let me help." Kneeling down in front of her chair, Alec lifted her left foot to his knee and then gently but firmly began to massage the abused limb. Resolutely ignoring the view this gave him, he kept his eyes on her foot and his mind on information.

"How'd they get you down here, anyway?"

"Drugs I think. Started to get woozy after the coffee, blacked out and then woke up here."

Alec grunted in reply, moving on to her right leg. He froze for a millisecond as his work made Max moan with pleasure, pictures racing through his head of her lying beneath him panting and naked. He resolutely repressed the effect her little moans and noises of pleasure were having on him and concentrated on massaging the life back into her limbs so she could stand and they could finally make their way out of here. She was a fellow soldier and it was just not done to have thoughts like that about her, plus she would kick his ass to China if she ever found out.

Unbeknownst to him, Max was struggling with similar feelings. Weakly rubbing her arms she valiantly attempted to ignore the feelings Alec's strong and capable hands were sending racing through her. Never mind what he sight of him on his knees in front of her did to her system. That and what she had felt when Alec had descended on her tormentors like an avenging angel dropping from heaven, moving faster than she had ever seen. Something had responded in her, something primal, a roiling blend of abated fear, relief and something else she had never felt before, but if forced to would call the feeling of coming home. Alec felt like home.

Reluctantly Alec let go of her leg and once more helped Max to her feet. She wobbled a little and then shook out her arms and legs, causing Alec to grimace as her actions made interesting parts of her anatomy jiggle slightly.

"You can't go around like this." He stated simply. Swinging around his backpack he pulled out what he had had the foresight to pack. Her only pair of black jeans and a long-sleeved tee were handed over.

Max beamed at him: "You brought my clothes!"

"Well, I thought you wouldn't want to walk around in floral dress any more than necessary, Mary-Jane." He couldn't resist the jibe. "Seriously? Mary-Jane Watson?"

"Have to keep you entertained somehow, don't I?" Max said as she slipped into the trainers he handed her next. Standing up straight she shook her arms once more, before shivering in the dank air of the cellar.

Alec's eyes narrowed as he noticed this, and without a word shrugged out of his backpack and vest. Snagging the bottom of his black sweater he pulled it up and over his head, dragging up the hem of his shirt at the same time and exposing his abs not only to the chilled air but also Max's suddenly fascinated gaze.

Her eyes were glued to the skin laid out for her pleasure, admiring how the spotlight was casting interesting shadows on his muscles as they bunched and moved beneath his skin. She shivered again, from something other than cold. Then Alec was turning and dropping the garment over her head.

She almost moaned out loud as the body-heat soaked into her chilled skin, but managed to bite back the sound. The unique smell Max's brain registered ad Alec rose up to engulf her, a mixture of whiskey, leather and musk.

Oblivious to her dazed state, the man in question shrugged back into vest and gear before focusing on her once more, unfortunately for him after she had managed to get herself under control again.

"You ready to leave, Max?"

Max nibbled her bottom lip. "There's something I have to do first, Alec."

"You can go to the little girls room later, Max. It's not as if Manticore didn't teach us perfect - ow!"

Max's slap to the back of his head had silenced him.

"Pig. It's not that. Just come with me."

Alec's hand on her arm stopped her. "Now, Max. No storming in half-cocked. I get that you want to lay down the hurt on people, but there are way too many of them and not enough of us. These two are not going to stay in la-la land forever." In spite of his words Jack and Ken were still very much not in the land of the conscious. "And there could be others on the way. Whatever you think you need to do can wait."

Max glared at him, then yanked her arm from his grasp and without another word turned and left the room.

Alec rolled his eyes and followed her as she flitted from darkened room to darkened room in search of God knew what. 'Stupid female. No don't bother telling Alec why, instead of making our getaway, we're moving deeper into enemy territory. We could be planning things that go boom, but no, we have to sneak through a house at stupid o'clock in the morning and we aren't even stealing anything.' He snarked to himself, sotto voce, mindful of not letting Max hear him or there would be hell to pay.

Ahead of him he saw the Max-shadow tense and freeze. Turning on one foot she stormed back to him. Alec only had time to think 'oh crap she heard me' and brace himself for the impact, when she was already up in his face.

Readying himself for the slap he was sure was coming, he almost fell over backwards when instead she braced her hands on his chest and kissed his cheek. A whispered 'Thank you for saving me' drifted back in her wake as she left once more and pulled him from his stupor.

As Max moved away from him once more and back on her path, she resolutely ignored the way her lips still tingled after brushing over Alec's stubbled cheek. Leading the way, she heard him follow, protecting her back and keeping her safe, just like always.

Five minutes later Alec was still absently rubbing his cheek, feeling as if Max's lips had branded him. He trusted Max with his life, would trust any one of Manticore's alumni with his life, but the increasing amount of time they were spending here was making him antsy. The longer they stayed the more likely it became that one or both of the goons in the cellar woke up and raised the alarm. And then they would really be in trouble, because he doubted that the guns they had all been carrying were simply for decoration.

"Max!" he hissed. "What are we doing here?"

"Ssshh. Quiet." Was the only answer he got, the verbal equivalent to the smacks she liked handing out so much. "We're here?"

"Here, where?" Alec groused, then resigned himself to waiting and finding out. Well that and be ready for when this impulse of Max's got them into trouble like her schemes usually did.

He watched as Max knelt down and slowly opened the door. Resigning himself to being confused a little longer, Alec straightened and stood guard, keeping an eye and ear out for discovery

"Sweetie?" Max's soft as butter voice almost had him falling on his ass in surprise. This was not the tone of voice he was used to hearing from her.

"Mommy?" The voice from the closet was water-logged and tiny and made Alec's head whip round as he looked at Max in disbelief and betrayal. 'When had that happened and most importantly who had dared?'

Max shot him an apologetic look, blushing slightly.

"No, Tara. It's Miss Watson. You can come out now, honey."

"I hid real good." The voice appeared to come from behind the half-open door and Alec was tempted to just barge in and grab whoever it was, so they could finally leave. But Max seemed to be content to wait - and get on his nerves - so he would practice himself in patience.

"Yes, you did. You hid real good. But now, we're leaving."

There was a soggy hitch to the unknown voice when it asked: "Mommy's not coming back?"

Max's head dropped slightly. "No, sweetie, she's not coming back. But you're coming with me."

Alec startled with shock once more and that was starting to piss him off.

"Max!" he hissed. "What the hell are you doing? I came here to get you not pick up an entire kindergarten."

Max glared at him, as shuffling indicated the retreat of whoever was hiding behind the door. Then her gaze softened, became pleading.

"Please, Alec. I can't leave her here. I'm…" she swallowed hard. "I'm begg…"

Alec's fingers on her lips cut her off. "Okay, Max. She can come along." He never could resist when she turned those big brown eyes on him.

"Thank you. Come on, sweetie. We have to go."

More shuffling heralded the arrival of whomever Max had wanted to get. The first thing Alec saw was a glint of golden-brown hair that surrounded a pale little face with huge eyes. Tear marks streaked through the dirt smudging her little face. She couldn't be more than five, and a skinny five at that. As she came further into the dim light of the hallway, Alec could also see that the only thing warming her was a faded little shift dress that barely came to her knees. No sooner had the thought appeared that the poor child must be freezing, when Max was already stripping out of his sweater and pulling it over the little girl's head. She almost disappeared in it, covered now from neck to mid-calf. Max quickly rolled up the sleeves and then hoisted her up to sit on her waist, where the little girl clung like a monkey.

Two pairs of solemn eyes looked at Alec.

"We can go now."

Alec rolled his eyes and turned to lead the way, only to stop in his tracks and remove his extra glock fro the small of his back and shove it into Max's hands.

"I don't do guns." She protested, all set to shove it right back at him.

"Keep it. I know you don't like them, but what with carrying the sprog hand to hand combat will be a little bit difficult."

Max sighed heavily and nodded, letting the gun drop to her side. The size of it dwarfed her hand and didn't quite fit, but Alec never let other people at his guns. A sense of peace filled her. Alec would keep them safe. Not that she couldn't kick ass herself, but it was nice to know that he would pick up the slack if necessary.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: This installment is slightly shorter than the previous, but I have to stop at a good point and if I hadn't stopped there it would have been another ten pages at least and then it would have been too long.

**Chapter Four**

The were halfway out of the compound when it became apparent that the two stooges weren't quite as unconscious as they had hoped. Either that or somebody had come to see where they were and had found them out cold. Didn't matter, the alarm was raised and every damn spotlight lit up like a supernova, the whole area brighter than day.

Fortunately for Alec and Max, their eyes adapted to the change faster than humans and while the guards were still blinking against the glare in a vain attempt to clear them, the two of them ducked into the deeper shade between two buildings, before they could be seen.

"What now?" Max asked, keeping the little girl's face pressed to her neck, so it wouldn't be seen. Alec stood in front of them for the same purpose, shielding them from view. She looked up at him, only just able to make out his face in the gloom. His brow was furrowed in thought, no doubt going through different scenarios in his head. Then his face cleared and became determined. Looking down into her eyes, he simply said: "We leave of course."

"Of course. What else? And how I might ask. In case you haven't noticed this place is so bright you could be forgiven to think the sun came up a few hours early. And it is crawling with people. Minor detail of course."

Neither of them mentioned that it was mostly Max's fault that they were still there, and after seeing the treatment poor Susie had to endure and the condition the child had been in there was no way Alec would go back and change the last few hours.

"If I remember correctly, Maxie, we're almost out already. There's a hundred metre dash from the back of these two houses to the perimeter. They'll all be heading to the big house first, find out what happened. Gives us a headstart. Once we are in the forest it is an easy 3k run to the truck. Due north. And we're out. Had worse in boot camp."

Max nodded. "Lead the way."

Alec shook his head. "Ladies first, plus I have both hands free."

They snuck to the other side of the gap. The commune guys seemed to be following Alec's prediction, gathering in the large open section between the houses, leaving their side free. Two hundred meters ahead of them were the first trees. Another fifty beyond that and heavy brush would hide them.

"Run as fast as you can, Max. Keep the little one in front of you, Once you're in the forest head due north. I'll be behind you. And -"

"don't stop." they finished together.

"I know all this, Alec." Max said without rancour.

Alec grinned, unrepentant. "On the count of three."

"One."

"Two"

"Damn it." He shot after Max as she started blurring to the perimeter ahead of the count. Just like always. 

Two hundred meters and change had never felt so far before in her life. Tara was a heavy load clinging to her front, subtly throwing off her centre of balance. The poor child was making herself as small as possible, but Max only had one hand free to prop her up, the other occupied with holding the gun away from her side so it wouldn't bash into her with every step.

She couldn't believe that three months away from Manticore's daily drills had left her this out of shape. Her heart was pumping double-time to provide oxygen for her muscles, breath gasping in her lungs to keep up, hissing from parted lips

They were half-way across when somebody noticed them and it turned out Alec's guess was right. The guns weren't for decoration only. Fortunately for them the commune apparently didn't have target practice in their daily schedule.

Max was overwhelmingly aware of Alec running behind and slightly to her side, blocking her from a direct shot to the back. She felt his breath as if it were her own, her senses singing to life until she could almost see his presence in her mind's eye.

The shooter's aim was getting better and they ducked their heads as bullets sniped past. Behind her she heard/felt Alec grunt, but his steps never faltered. Max cried out as her foot hit a ridge in the ground, stumbling, causing Tara's weight to shift, unbalancing her even further. And just like that Alec's hand was there at her elbow, helping her regain her footing, keeping her upright. It stayed there for the last few meters through the first trees, as bullets bit chunks from the trunks around her. Stayed until they made it into the forest proper, darkness enveloping them in its safety and hiding them from view.

There was no time to stop, no time to do anything but run as if the very hounds of hell were after them, but it was clear their pursuers had taken to making potshots in the dark. Pupils dilated to their utmost to make use of the ambient light, Max and Alec headed for his car. His hand had moved to the small of her back, showing her the way with the slightest pressure to the left or right. As if they were dancing the tango in a crowded ballroom, dancers in the dark. They moved as one, two bodies, one mind, streaking effortlessly through the forest, over broken trees and brooks. It was wild and exhilarating and when she saw the same look on his face she laughed with glee.

Finally, regretfully they flowed to a halt, slowly creeping up to the truck he had hidden away in a stand of trees by a dirt access road. A quick reconnoitre showed that the position had not been compromised. Silently Alec handed Max, still carrying Tara, into the vehicle.

A moment later they were on their way back home, back to Manticore. Max sighed with relief. She could hand in her report and let others deal with the Maclays. She resolutely pushed away thoughts of what to do with Tara now that she had actually managed to get her away. Lydecker would no doubt rip her a new one, but there was no way she would let her go. Once had been enough.

She broke from her reverie ten miles down the road, Tara a dead weight in her lap, cutting off circulation to her legs, sleeping like a baby after the excitement of the night. The truck slowed down and pulled over to the verge.

Max looked at Alec in surprise. This was not standard operating procedure that called for you to leave the area of extraction as fast as possible with no stops within a fifty-mile radius no matter the reason. Her mouth opened to ask why they were stopping, when the words died in her throat. Alec was a pasty-white, sweat beading on forehead and lips. As she watched in astonishment, his eyes rolled up in his head and he slumped forward on the steering wheel, the shrill honk of the horn making her jump and Tara startle from her sleep.

"Alec!" Max's panicked cry failed to rouse him and she leaned over and pulled him away from the horn, struggling with his limp weight. He dropped back in his seat, head lolling to the side and hitting the window with a hollow thud.

Max looked at her hands in confusion. Her sticky wet hands. Reaching up she flipped on the car light and then gazed in horror at her crimson hands. Alec's vest was saturated with his blood and still he had managed to make it all the way to the truck, helping her keep her footing. Protecting her. Protecting them.

"You idiot."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So aftermath of the last chapter. No secret guest appearances in this one, but there will be in the next one.

A/N2: And while I have to say that I am tickled pink in some ways. Nine alerts, favourited by four people and one C2 community. I have to ask myself, 1143 hits in all and only 19 people decided to leave a message? And three reviews for the last chapter. Come on guys, reviews are the coin of the realm. Just love them. And I don't mind criticism either. As long as you are polite. So, yeah, just in case it wasn't obvious, this is me begging for reviews. and as an added incentive, these are the people I would like to thank:

ACE, opalshine, trinity day, librarygeek, OCSblondie, src13, cjhar, chloe, purplebunnywabbit, smartieepants, jadedcutie, lakergirl, gin54. Thanks guys, hope you enjoy chapter 5.

**Chapter Five**

The next few hours would haunt Max for a very long time to come. A nightmare kaleidoscope of stripping off Alec's vest and t-shirt looking for a wound. Trying to stay calm so Tara would stay calm as she attempted to staunch the blood with the basic first aid equipment she found in the glove compartment.

She could do no more than basic procedures as staying near the Maclay farm for any longer than absolutely necessary was just asking for trouble. And so she laid him out on the bench seat, legs folded uncomfortably so he would fit. And still Tara had to crouch down in the foot well, her pale face shining in the gloom, pinched with fear. Alec's head was heavy in Max's lap, one of her hands restlessly stroking through his hair, over his forehead, assuring herself that he was still with her, still alive.

From the corner of her eye she could see that Tara seemed to have the same need as every once in a while her hands would dart out to pat Alec's foot or calf.

For the next two hours Max drove steadily north, attention split between the road and Alec's condition as he swam in and out of delirium. Stopping the bleeding had been the first imperative but now she had to get him somewhere safe so she could patch him up properly and give him a transfusion. He was burning up in her lap, a sure-fire indication that the bullet was still inside his body, even if the lack of a visible exit wound indicated it anyway. His body going into overdrive to fight off the infection. Fever was a real problem with transgenics. As their immune systems were so strong, it was necessary to remove bullets as soon as possible. Anything foreign was attacked with the full force of their bodies' defences. Normally a good thing. They never had a cold and immune to most pulmonary infections and generally as fit as a horse.

The whole system backfired however when it came to bullets. The immune system, recognising them as foreign, threw everything at it disposal at them. Barring the scientists coming up with metal devouring white blood cells however, there was nothing much they could do, and so the system went into secondary defence, attempting to boil out the attacker. Unfortunately metal couldn't be cooked out of the body and so the fever escalated until the body's system shut down. Max had seen it happen to an unfortunate colleague while on a mission behind enemy lines when evac had been impossible. By the end he had been too hot to touch and then had simply slipped away. The bullet had to come out.

Then finally she saw light at the end of the road, a hotel, quite small, off the main road. And the vacancies sign was blinking a welcoming green. Alongside the basic first aid box the glove compartment had also held the standard allotment of cash for emergencies. And despite the lateness, or earliness of the hour depending on your point of view, service was swift and rent was cheap. Their cover story had to be amended of course and she told the nice lady serving her that she and her husband were on their way to see the in-laws.

The room was clean and tidy, no bath but a shower stall and everything they needed to make a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. Or to sterilise the scalpel and tweezers Max was going to use to get the slug out of Alec. Once more she thanked the heavens that Manticore had stocked the truck with what was basically an extended field kit for combat zones. It had probably been intended for her, sop when you are unsure what condition the rescuee would be in. Now she would use it to save Alec's life.

Sending Tara to wait in the bathroom, she laid Alec down on a sheet on the floor. The lights weren't really bright enough for this kind of thing, but they had been trained to do the procedure by feel in the pitchblack if necessary.

The bullet had hit high in the right shoulder, deflected off the bone and finally come to rest in the muscle tissue by his collarbone. It was but a moment's work to make the incision and get the damn thing out. Stitching the wound closed took longer as it had to be neat, she didn't want his skin marred with ugly scars.

The entry wound was another thing. Pulling out the tube of thick yellow antiseptic cream, she worked it into the wound with her fingers, glad Alec was still unconscious for this part of the procedure, then stitched that closed, too. No doubt this would leave a scar, it was too messy a wound, and even trimming the ragged edges as she had done did little to make it look any better. She could only hope she had managed to remove all the slivers of cloth that had been dragged into the wound.  
By the time she was done smoothing the last bit of tape in place, almost an hour had passed. Alec's colour had improved significantly, but just to be on the safe side she gave him a shot of broad base antibiotics, too. Struggling slightly, she managed to clean the blood up slightly and transfer him to the bed, where she hooked him up to the first bag of plasma. Manticore really had been prepared for the worst.

Laying her hand gently against his forehead, she was glad to feel that his temperature seemed to have gone down slightly. She flipped the sheet over his legs and then went to wash her hands and take care of Tara.

The poor girl sat curled up in the corner of the shower stall, Alec's sweater pulled over her knees. As Max came closer she saw that Tara was fast asleep, shivering slightly in the chill of the room. Scooping her up, she cradled her close to her chest and carried her through to the bedroom. Laying her next to Alec on the bed, she was touched to see the child immediately curl closer to him, cuddled into his warmth.

Then, stumbling slightly, she went back into the bathroom and filled the sink with scalding water. Methodically she began to wash the blood, Alec's blood, from her hands and arms. The water took on a pink tinge and still she scrubbed. A sob broke from her throat, she couldn't get his blood from beneath her fingernails, the dark rings blatantly obvious and impervious to soap and scrubbing brush.

Finally, she pulled the plug and watched the red water swirl down the drain, stripping off her soiled clothes until all she was left in was her top and panties. Walking back into the other room, she stared down at her two charges for a long moment, before joining them on the bed. She could let herself relax. Sleep was not far off. 

Insistent painful throbbing called Alec back into the land of the conscious. And boy did that suck. His body felt like it had been hit by a Mack truck and then hung up wet. Overexertion was a definite possibility, even X-5s had limits after all.

And he was too hot. Why was he too hot? Muzzily he tried for a coherent thought in the sludgy goo that his brain seemed to have turned into. Slowly the events of the day before returned in fits and starts. Saving Max and the girl, running for their lives and getting shot. Indignation rose in him. He had been shot! Again! Why did people always feel the need to shoot him?

'at least that explains the throbbing and the pain.' he thought to himself. 'But it doesn't explain the heat.'

Just as he attempted to move a heavy sigh had him freezing in his tracks, senses on high alert, finally giving him the big picture. He was lying in an unfamiliar bed somewhere, sheet pulled to his waist. His chest was bare, but he was still wearing his slacks, which went a long towards explaining the heat. He was used to sleeping in a lot less. And he wasn't alone. Curled into his side was the little girl they had liberated the day before. Her face was flushed, mouth slightly open, every exhale washing over his neck. Her weight was making his arm fall asleep but he didn't have the heart to move her.

Another sigh could be heard from the last occupant of the bed. Max lay behind Tara, encompassing the girl in protectiveness. They shared the same pillow, namely his arm, which explained why it felt so dead, strands of her hair tangling with his fingers, tying them together.

Alec felt strangely disconnected from his body, a side effect of the blood loss. He felt sluggish, unable to move, his limbs like lead weights. The drugs dulled his senses, but didn't do much against the insistent throbbing in his wounds.

"This sucks." His words startled even him and made the girls shift in their sleep. Tara muzzled further into his side, her little nose pressed into his neck, snuffling slightly and mumbling to herself about good kitties.

This made Alec snort with laughter, which caused him to groan with pain almost immediately as his body protested the sudden movements.

A hand landed on his stomach. His bare stomach. Looking down he saw that it was Max's hand. A quick glance showed that she was still fast asleep. Moving slowly he attempted to remove it with his free hand, before Max woke up and decide to remove something of his for taking liberties. He froze once more when in response to his actions, Max laced her fingers with his.

This time when he looked over, he saw that she was looking back from sleepy half-closed eyes.

"Go back to sleep, Alec." she mumbled, smiling slightly.

He thumb stroked lightly back and forth around his belly-button and let himself fall back into the arms of sleep. His last action before succumbing completely was to raise their hands so they rested over his heart and then he was oblivious once more. 


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Well, this part is some back story. I need some things to stay the same after all in the DA world. Also a bit on what Tara's life has been like, from her POV. Hard to hit that, so let me know if it works. And I wanted to have Alec and her interacting. Also there is a reference to ... well lets see if anybody finds it without me signposting it. ;)

A/N2: Some references to pretty hard-hitting stuff, no details though, rating has been adjusted.

**Chapter Six**

The breakfast room was deserted, a good thing considering the fact that all they had to dress Tara in was one of Alec's t-shirts. Severely oversized on the girl, it was large enough to pass as a simple, badly designed dress.

Large windows looked out on a meadow, forest and mountains in the distance. They let in floods of light that drenched the room in a warm orange haze. Dustmotes floated in the air, glittering in and out of view.

Their proprietor assured them that they would remain undisturbed. The only other people in the hotel were a British couple on their honeymoon, and they never came out before nightfall.

And so it was that Alec and Max had a breakfast nook to themselves, Tara wandering off to goggle at the breakfast buffet groaning beneath the mounds of food piled on it. Every couple of steps she turned back to see that they were still there, but she seemed content enough to explore a little on her own.

Alec glanced at Max. Something had been bugging him ever since they had first gone looking for Tara. He had to be subtle about it of course.

"So, why did we have to take her with us?"

He winced slightly as he realised that that could have gone better.

Max only looked at him, head tilted to one side as she contemplated his question. Glancing over at Tara, she saw that the girl was still stuck for choice.

She sighed. "You remember our first undercover missions?" She barely waited for his nod before continuing. "I was loaned out as a personal favour to one of the lab scientists. They sent me to her sister's family as a foster child. Believed the kids there were being abused, physically and mentally and perhaps sexually. I was supposed to find out for sure. Deliver proof.

"They put me in a room with their oldest daughter Lucy. She was so pretty. You know not like us, bred to perfection, with not a flaw in sight, this was just more real. Had blond hair and the sweetest character you could possibly imagine. She made me feel so at home. Had just turned 14.

"I found out that first night that it was true, all of it. He came into our room and raped her. With me right in the next bed. Told her she had to let him, or he would take me. That I was such a pretty little thing and wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to me. And I let him. Nine years of training and when it came down to it, I froze."

Max swallowed, clearly trying to compose herself. Alec was torn between going over to her side and just holding her and giving her space so she could finish her tale without breaking down. She needed to tell it that much was obvious and he felt honoured that she felt ready to tell someone, tell him. In the end he opted for a meld of both. Reaching out slowly to give her time to launch a protest, he gently laid his hand on hers where it lay on the table.

Max stilled and for a moment he feared she would reject him, then she simply turned her hand, so their palms met and continued with her tale.

"Two nights I had to listen to that monster. He got off on knowing that two little girls were terrified. Every night I asked myself if I would be next. Didn't know if I could fight him. Didn't matter that I was already stronger than him, he was evil. Bone deep evil. And short of killing 'im there was nothing I could do to stop him.

"I begged my handler to come and stop him. I could see it tore her up inside to say no, that they had to follow proper channels, police, social services, the D.A. Easy for them, they weren't the ones right there in that stuffy room every night, listening to Lucy try and stifle her tears with her pillow. And her mother pretending none of it was happening, never mind that he made enough noise to rouse a deaf rhino."

She lapsed into silence once more, clearly reliving some of the things she had seen. This time Alec followed his urges and moved to her side of the booth, shielding her from view, arm going around her shoulders. When she took the comfort he offered, leaning into his side and holding his free hand with both of hers, he shivered with pleasure.

"How did it end?"

"One week I stayed there and on the seventh day they came. The services, the police, Manticore. Lucy saw them coming from our bedroom window. She must've guessed what he would do. Hid me in the back of the closet. Told me to be as quiet as a mouse and to not come out. Whatever happened, I had to stay hidden. I should have told her then and there that I knew more martial arts than she had ever heard of in her life, could bench press five times my body weight and was faster'n anything she'd ever see. But I didn't. I stayed quiet as a mouse where she had told me to.

"The police broke down the front door and I heard him coming. Lucy was crouching in the corner. He stormed in, hunting rifle in hand. Don't know what he thought he could do to change anything. The cops were yelling downstairs, the wife sobbing something or other. In our room nobody spoke. He just stared at Lucy. And then calm as you please shot her right between the eyes and then swallowed a bullet himself. Maybe he thought if he couldn't keep her nobody else was going to neither. And it was over. I was sent back to Manticore and psych counselling and moved on. Some things stayed."

Her breath hitched and Alec pulled her closer. She allowed herself some hot, bitter tears, that were soaked up by his shirt as if they had never been, letting the tough girl mask slide for a little while.

"I couldn't leave her behind, Alec. I just couldn't. Another second with that family of hers would have been too much."

"I get it, Max." Alec insisted. "I do. We had to bring her. But you get to explain to Lydecker."

Max smiled through the tears. "Deal"

Relaxing slightly she looked around the room, only to tense. "Alec, where's Tara?"

"Relax, Max, she just walked to the other side of the buffet. I'll check on her and you can go clean up." He smirked good-naturedly. "You look like crap."

Max slapped him lightly. "Ass" But she was smiling as she said it.

Alec stood up first and watched her walk to the ladies room, then turned his attention to where Tara stood, seemingly frozen in place.

* * *

Tara was goggling at the buffet, amazed at the sheer amount of food she could choose from. Mounds of sliced bread just waiting to be toasted and slathered with butter. Three different preserves. Pitchers of frothy milk thick with cream, orange and cranberry juice. Two large bowls of different cereals. A whole fruit basket filled to the brim with glossy red and green apples and a whole bunch of sun yellow bananas. And that didn't even include all the hot breakfast foods she had seen under the heaters. It was overwhelming for a little girl used to porridge and skimmed milk in the morning and not much different the rest of the day. She didn't know where to start. Fat tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't know what to do. It was just too much.

"Problems, squirt?"

Tara jumped with fright and sank in on herself a little. Glancing up through the thick fringe of her hair, she saw that the man from the day before was behind her. Ms. Watson had called him Alec and he seemed nice. Hadn't yelled at her that morning when she had laughed. Wasn't proper for a girl child to laugh at the menfolk.

He hadn't said anything else and she didn't know what to answer. If she made a mistake he might send her back. She didn't want to go back.

"N-n-no." God, she hated her stutter. Her brothers said there was something wrong with her. That stuttering was God's punishment on her for her wickedness. Surely the man would see that and send her back to the room hungry. Her father always did when she couldn't answer properly like a good Christian little girl.

The man didn't react to her flaw, he simply said: "Big selection they have here just for the three of us. Difficult to make up your mind."

Tara allowed herself to relax slightly. Maybe he hadn't heard her stutter. She made sure to only nod, though, when it seemed as if he was expecting an answer. She still couldn't look into his eyes.

"Shall we choose together?"

He still hadn't moved from her side, or told her she was a silly cow cause she couldn't make up her mind. A filthy demon too stupid to talk right. A girl. A good-for-nothing girlchild.

With a start she realised that he'd asked a question and she hadn't answered. Panicked she looked up at him once more to gauge his mood. Making the men folk wait was bad. They were busy and had better things to do. But the Alec-man was waiting patiently for her to answer. So she smiled shyly back and nodded.

"Well, what do you think we should have first? Porridge or cereal?"

Tension popped in her like a bubble. It was easier to choose when there were only two options.

"Cer-al" she whispered and almost bolted when her answer made the Alec-man chuckle.

"Good choice, Tara. Too hot for porridge. Want some fruit?"

"-s-"

And so they worked their way through the whole buffet. In the end the Alec-man carried their food back to their table, with Tara skipping ever other step to keep up with his longer stride.

The Alec-man was nice. And Ms. Watson was waiting for them, smiling. Maybe it would be okay.


	7. Chapter 7

Another short one. Bear in mind that I am writing this in one piece on my computer, but uploading it here in chapters. I am going to finish this by the way. I am only stuck on the romance thing, which usually I have no problems with. This is the first story you know where I wrote a plan, one page, both sides. I had this all layed out. And the last three lines are. Max and Alec go back to Manticore and hook up. The shortest sentencs and the by far longest piece in this story. Ironic, huh?

**Chapter Seven**

Alec felt pleasantly stuffed after breakfast. And well on his way to healing. Now that the slug was gone, it should only be a matter of days before he was back at 100.

Max and Tara had taken the truck into town proper to get the girl some clothes, shoes especially. Even if it was early summer she couldn't run around barefoot. Especially not in the military transport Manticore would be sending for them once he had made contact.

He'd removed the satellite phone from its berth before the girls left. It was time to call in the big guns and head back home. Then they could blow the whistle on that bunch of inbred bastards.

Contact was brief. Just a long series of numbers on his side to establish credentials, followed by a short pause as Manticore triangulated his position. Finally a short, electronic message giving him a time and a place. The whole transaction took barely thirty seconds, not nearly long enough for somebody to hack the transmission.

The pick-up would be at sundown. A helo would fly in and pick them and the truck up. Couple hours flying and they'd be home free. Until then he could catch up on his sleep and let his shoulder rest some more.

* * *

Sundown was near and the three of them were ready to leave. All their stuff was packed, including the blood-stained sheets, which Max had replaced with new ones. The other reason for their trip into town that morning.

Tara was skipping alongside Max, slightly stunned at her good luck. Hot pink flip-flops adorned her feet with a big yellow flower over the big toe on each. A yellow sundress danced around her bare legs and she had new barrettes in her freshly washed hair.

Alec strolled after them, content to let them walk ahead. Enjoying the feel of family.

Something made both transgenic stop in their tracks, as if they were dogs on a scent trail. One by one the birds stopped warbling and nature went silent around them.

Uneasy, Alec moved alongside the girls, scanning the area for whatever it was that had pinged their senses.

Frightened, Tara moved closer to Max, one hand clinging to her leg. Vaguely she felt Alec move closer to them, protecting them, just like he had that night. His hand came down to rest lightly on her head and she leaned into it slightly, comforted.

"There." Max's voice was quiet as she pointed into the slowly darkening northern sky. A tiny pinprick of light, catching the rays f the setting sun, was making a parabola across the sky, rising ever so slightly into the heavens.

"Rocket." Alec's voice was grim.

Both stared at the thing. Saw it pulse, once, twice, three times, each brighter than the last, forcing the two transgenics to shield their eyes. Something slammed through them. Max swayed on her feet as Alec fought off the black spots dancing in front of his eyes.

And then it seemed as if every single beast in the vicinity went apeshit. Dogs barking like crazy, cats shrieking their displeasure, the horses in the nearby field running and bucking in circles.

"EMP?" Max asked.

"Yup." Alec nodded, then frowned. "Well fuck, there goes our ride."

Max nodded grimly, knowing full well what happened to a helo when hit by an electro-magnetic pulse in mid-flight. Circuits were fried and the whole thing fell out of the sky like the hunk of metal it really was.

"Should check for survivors. They can't have been far out when the damn wave hit them. Can be there in ten minutes or less."

Max nodded. Picking up Tara she walked the rest of the way to the truck. While most of the fancy stuff would be fried, it ran on an old-fashioned combustion engine, so at least they would be mobile.

* * *

The helicopter was a funeral pyre. It had impacted so hard it left a deep crater in the field where it now rested. Explosion was presumably instantaneous, hopefully death had been, too, for the eight men and women making up the crew.

Dejectedly, Alec and Max walked back to the truck, where they had left Tara with instructions to sit on the floor and not look outside, whatever happened. It was unlikely that they had personally known any of the crew members. The helos were routinely staffed with the older X-6s. Maybe at the odd training session. It was as if a distant relative had died, you knew you should feel something because they were family, but it was at one removed. The main feeling one of painful nostalgia, for opportunities lost, that these kids would never see their next birthday.

"Looks like we're heading back the hard way." Alec stated.

"Yay. Always wanted to do a roadtrip." Max answered with no small amount of sarcasm in her voice.

"Gonna have to be slightly roundabout with the whole thing too." Alec added. "At least until we can make contact again and find out what's what."

Max only nodded, what else was there to say really?"


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: This one is slightly longer. I want you to bear in mind that I never studied physics. This is just an extrapolition of what the aftermath might have been like. Hope it makes sense. And this chapter is slightly longer than the one before.

You might also be pleased to know that I have another two chapters done and dusted on this that will be posted in time. And ten wil have in it what so many of you have been asking for. Just remember slow is good, too. ;)

**Chapter Eight**

The news was full of the tragedy. Local channels mostly as some of the geo-synchronous TV satellites seemed to have been fried as well. Explained the burning debris that had flamed the sky that first night. The telephones still worked, and the telegraphs, so the stations resorted back to the tried and tested methods of the sixties, showing a picture and transmitting the phone connection to whoever they had on site.

Bad news all round. Planes dropping out of the sky, killing all on board more often than not. Traffic systems in all major cities were affected, resulting in massive pile-ups when the lights went crazy.

Anything and everything that had been on at the time of the pulse was affected. Wall Street crashed through the floor, rafts of companies bankrupt in milliseconds. The bands in the financial sectors on the East Coast lost all their data in the blink of an eye, their computer networks burning out and causing cascade failure in all the banks connected to the network. And thus the repercussion spread. Some of the biggest banks in the world had seats in New York. The Deutsche Bank, the HSBC, it all came down in ruins, putting all their clients on a truly democratic level, namely paupers. Very little money was still kept around in cash after all. Why bother when it was so much easier to pay with transactions and drafts.

The modern world revolved around the chip and plastic. All electric products were useless, from the PDA to mobiles to network servers and onboard navigational equipment.

Shipments were lost at sea when the navigational computers went up in smoke, some container ships simply drifting in front of the current until some freak wave flipped them in their heads and they sank with all hands on board.

Waves of blackouts swept the country, as many nuclear plants had to go into emergency shutdown. Manual emergency shutdown.

Food riots broke out in all the main cities on the East Coast, when the citizens realised that plastic was worthless. Credit card companies had been hit just like everbody else and nobody was about to hand over goods for the promise of money. And who really carried around more than a couple of dollars anymore?

The banks had it, but refused to hand it out. All the accounts were gone and they weren't just about to give away the cash.

There was news of riots every day. In front of banks, hospitals, the town halls, the White House. The country ground to a halt. Nobody was willing to risk their own survival just to help some stranger they had seen on the street.

On the third day, the President stepped up and suspended democracy in favour of martial law. This brought a different problem, the army was still bogged down in the Middle East, as were large contingents of the national guard. Mass recruitment took place to fill the gaps- basic training went down to six weeks, so less people were weeded out than should have been. Corruptions was rife, as was police brutality and abuse of power.

The situation in the countryside was slightly different. A lot less modernisations meant a lot less failures. Traffic lights failing in the middle of rush hour was inconsequential if you only had one crossing in the whole town and most people were farmers and walked back home from the barn. A lot of banks had real ledgers, paper on ink. People knew each other, were often related, willing to help. Almost everybody had a large back garden supplementing their diet already. Belts were tightened and life went on.

The West Coast was largely protected by the Rockies, the additional distance from the centre of the blast allowing the wave to diminish in power. Electronic goods were still affected but not completely wiped.

Large corporations had at least enough warning to begin an emergency system download before the wave or cascade failure hit. Not all of them did. Data was lost but not as comprehensively as in the eastern states.

California and the other states rushed through legislation, but in general life went on as normal. For them at least. Inter-state aid dried down to a trickle. No aid was forthcoming to those states hit hardest. The infrastructure and command system just did not exist anymore and so they were left to themselves.

* * *

Alec and Max learned all this on their trip, some over the radio, some of it first hand. They avoided cities after the first day, when somebody tried to steal the truck in pure desperation. Poor guy was no match for two pissed off transgenics.

Now they cruised the back roads, scrupulously observing the speed limits so as not to garner undue attention. It took much longer and shelter was few and far between, and only cash accepted - up front.

This was their more pressing problem. The emergency money Manticore had provided had never been meant for an extended mission such as this was turning out to be. Those came with a whole different list of supplies. Forced to use the money for regular stays in motels and diners, it was fast running out. The two of them could have done without of course. Taking turns they could have finished the trip in a fraction of the time. Both had been trained to go with a minimum of sleep and food for long periods of time. Tara was a different matter though. She needed regular rest that just wasn't going to happen in a moving vehicle, no matter how good the suspension. And she needed proper food and not the crap the gas stations foisted off on travellers.

They were down to their last dollars, had just enough left for a night at the motel and dinner.

Alec and Max looked at each other. Something had to be done. The diner they were in had resorted to a much reduced menu, opting for good solid food they could get locally. And so the three of them were making their way through plates piled high with mashed potatoes, meatloaf and seasonal vegetables.

Tucked into a corner of the booth against the wall, sat Tara giddily drawing in a little colouring book the waitress had given her.

Over her head Max and Alec were discussing their options. In Spanish, so as not to worry the poor girl and to keep the locals from getting suspicious. The waitress had looked at them funny when she heard their to her incomprehensible chatter. She had been touched though when Alec had explained that they simply did not wish to unduly agitate their daughter with talk of the future.

What are we going to do? Max asked. There's not even enough for lunch tomorrow, let alone gas.

Alec nodded. I know. Normally I would say hit the local crime scene. Either directly or by scoring a heist and then fencing the stuff. But-

we don't have the contacts. And there is nothing to get here anyway. Max finished for him, having gone through the same thought process herself..

Alec tilted his head slightly, not quite sure of her reaction to his next suggestion. Did you see the truck stop a couple of miles back?

Max nodded non-committedly.

They have pool.

Hustling? Alec, you can't be serious.

Have a better idea?

Max conceded defeat. I don't like it. It's a two-man thing. And I-

Can't come because of the little one. We can't leave her alone. Alec said for her. It'll be fine. What could possibly happen?


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: First off I would like to thank my reviewers for the last chapter. All two of them.

Then I have a short announcement. My computer is refusing nourishment (the cable jack is fubared), so updates will take longer. I only have one more chapter that is on another site and can be transferred here, but I want to keep that in reserve in case the whole repair thing takes longer than expected. So at least you guys will nto be completely un-updated. Is that even a word? So another chapter that more about character growth than anything else, and I just love Alec. And there is another crossover cameo in this, mainly because I couldn't work in the crossover in any permanent way without making my life and brain totally confused. A virtual cookie () with sprinkles for however notices it first.

**

Chapter Nine

**

A lot apparently, Alec reflected as he trudged back to his truck. After dinner he had driven Max and Tara back to the motel and then gone to the truck stop with some seed money.

The truckstop was the usual deal. Dimly lit, smoky, basic, solid furniture. It was doing good business, though it looked as if people were resorting to drinking homebrew. Not surprising. Apparently Budweiser hadn't felt the need to put something as old-fashioned as maps in their drivers' hands.

Well the lack of regular booze would make this slightly easier. Homebrew was stronger generally and nobody would believe that a newbie would be able to keep up with the locals.

The pool table was in use so Alec took a seat at the bar to case the competition before making his move. The barmaid appeared almost instantaneously for his order and he swept her form as a matter of course.

Threat-assessing just like he had for every other person in the bar as soon as he had stepped inside. She had a nice body, poured into hip huggers and a tank top. Mistaking his look for more than casual interest, Mindy - as her nametag proclaimed - leaned in close for his order, giving him prime view of her cleavage and the knowledge that she'd chosen to wear black lace that day.

Alec ordered his drink, dismissing the her from his thoughts as a no-threat. His attention focussed on a bunch of locals surrounding the pool table. Each town, each bar had its own rules when it came to proclaiming interest in the game. Some quite obscure. Thankfully this one was fairly straightforward. Anyone interested slapped a twenty on the table and took on the winner of the previous game.

He let half an hour go by, nursing a couple of glasses of the homebrew they called beer here, before joining the spectators. At least service was good. The barmaid checked every ten minutes or so to see if he needed anything.

Joking around with the locals was no effort and pretty soon he laid his own twenty on the table. The first few games flew by and Alec was eighty up. Not early enough to help the three of them along, and he didn't feel like doing this every night. Even now the thought that the two girls were alone in a strange unfortified place was eating at him. Logically he knew that Max would kick his ass if she knew what he was thinking, but this had nothing to do with intellect. He had decided to keep the two of them safe and no matter what Max said, having Tara around would hamper her.

In the fourth game he began to add the odd flourish. Cracking jokes, and generally putting on a performance as an affable jokester. Soon the locals were challenging him to do trick shots. Trying to come up with a shot he wouldn't be able to perform. Betting against him. The money began to pile up and he probably wouldn't have to play much longer. Not to mention he didn't want to completely alienate them all, in case they decided to gang up on him in the parking lot. It was a fine line to tread. He needn't have worried. In this town a barter had been a form of commerce even before the pulse had hit. And loosing a few greenbacks to a drifter that obviously needed it more was no skin of their noses. Plus he had been good for a laugh.

Alec was just putting the pool stick away, to the good-natured ribbing of the others, when a hand fell heavily on his still smarting shoulder and twirled him around.

"you the guy who fancies himself a pool player?" The voice was gravel and spit, already thick with alcohol fumes. Alec looked up and then up some more.

"I do my best." He grinned at the man, hoping to defuse the situation. Although he had no clue as to why the guy was pissed at him in the first place.

The gorilla's face tightened, his fists clenching as Mindy the barmaid chose that moment to flounce past them and, smiling at him, whisper: I'll just put it on the table over there, shall I?"

"Play me." It wasn't a question. Shrugging, Alec peeled off a twenty from the wad in his back pocket and laid it on the table, already reaching for his abandoned stick. He figured he would win gracefully and be on his way.

"Play for 400." Again it was a statement, and really didn't sound like he was going to take no for an answer. That put an entirely different spin on things. Now'd he have to win and risk the gorilla having a go at him and then he would have to take him down and make a run for it. Never his favourite part of hustling.

Four hundred came close to what Alec had managed to make that night. 'Well, shit. We need that money.' He thought to himself.

"Sam." It took a moment before Alec remembered to answer to the name he had picked for himself. Turning he saw one of the oldtimers he had been passing time with earlier.

"Yeah, Mr. Sorenson?"

"Told ya to call me Jakob, lad. That there's Mitchell." He gestured at the hulk now glowering Alec's way from the other side of the pool table. "Local royalty. His folks own a spread south of town. He's our Mindy's ex."

Alec was confused. "Who's Mindy?"

This had Jakob and his cronies cracking up laughing. "She's the barmaid been making googly-eyes at you all evening."

Alec's jaw dropped. He looked over at the bar and sure enough saw the girl he had dismissed earlier in the evening as no threat, smile brilliantly at him, adding a little wave. Turning back he saw Mitchell glare at him even more if that was possible, his grinding teeth clearly heard, while racking the balls.

"Well, shit."

Jakob and his cronies laughed once more. "Don't you worry none, son. Mitchell fancies himself the best player in three counties. You just beat 'im and we'll see to it that he pays his debts." The 'and does nothing stupid' went unsaid.

"Good thing I'm not staying in the area longer then. We're planning on getting back on the road in the morning." Alec had no idea what had gotten into him. That was now two people in a week he had told the truth instead of the lie.

"We?" Jakob asked, surprised.

Alec shrugged to himself. 'In for a penny-'

"My wife and I are heading north to the family. Was supposed to be visit, the family haven't seen our girl in a while. Now we figure its going to be safer there." The fabrication came easily, felt too comfortable. "They're waiting for me back at the motel up the road. Trip is turning out longer than we thought."

Jakob nodded. "Been that way for a lotta people." He winked. "That's why you've been oblivious to our Mindy's charms, eh? Missus a looker."

Alec laughed. "Yeah, she's a looker alright. Regular little spitfire with temper like a volcano."

Jakob laughed. "Hah! My missus is the same. Good thing we love them."

Alec froze. He could feel something well up inside him, a realisation, was trying to get a grip on it, could feel it at the tip of his fingers-

"Play!"

He shook himself, the thought gone, sunk back into his subconscious, and bent his mind to the serious business of beating hulk's pants off.

It didn't take long. Pulling out all the stops, not holding back anymore, he ran the table in under five minutes, not letting Mitchell get a shot in edgeways. Just to rub it in.

Finally he potted the black, letting the cue ball roll back until it was exactly where it had stared the game, just because he could.

The bar was silent for a single charged moment and then two things happened at once. The regulars burst into applause and Mitchell took a swing at him. Alec saw it coming in slow motion, swayed to the side to let the fist pass his face. Grabbing Mitchell's wrist he pulled him further off balance, sliding in behind him and giving a push that made the man slam belly-first into the pool table. Still holding on to the wrist he gave it a turn and pulled his opponents arm up his back, immobilizing him in for the duration.

The bar had gone silent, applause died down as quickly as it had started. Alec cringed inside. This had the potential to get really ugly, real fast.

"Well, shit son. If I had known you had moves like that I wouldn't've worried so much." Jakob's good-natured words pierced the tension in the bar and many people laughed.

Alec laughed and let go of Mitchell's arm, stepping back swiftly. He wasn't stupid enough to stay in kicking distance of the man. The man who was even then straightening up, a look of homicidal rage on his face.

Alec readied himself for another round when Mitchell was stopped by a hand dropping heavily on his shoulder. It belonged to a man in his late forties, early fifties, some grey at the temples, compact build. There was something about him that screamed fellow soldier at Alec.

"The boy won fair and square Mitchell. Pay up so the man can go back to his wife and kid. Don't let your dick do the thinking just cause Mindy won't give you the time of day." His voice was deep and competent.

Mitchell relaxed, probably mostly because he registered that Alec was nor real competition for Mindy's dubious affections. Pulling a thick wad of cash from his back pocket, he peeled off 400 and handed them over with a bright smile that transformed his face.

"No hard feelings?"

Alec laughed, tucking the money away and slapped the man's shoulder. "No worries. Come on, I'll buy you a drink before I head out."

Mitchell waved him off. "No, let me. Least I can do." And he was off with the other man in tow to get a round of drinks.

"And that was Uncle John to the rescue." Jakob remarked with a grin.

Alec raised an eyebrow in query, curious for more information.

"Used to be in the marines, runs the local auto shop now. Mitchell's uncle from the mother's side. Damn near the only one that can stop that man when he's set his mind on something."

And then there was no time for further questions, as Mitchell and John came back with two trays of drinks.

Alec stayed for another half hour, before finally saying goodbye among much well wishing and advice on which roads to avoid. Quickest routes out of state and where he could mention a name if he and his girls got stuck.

When he finally turned off the road and into the motel parking lot, he was drained of energy. The latent worry he had felt all evening knowing his girls were alone, combined with the tension of the pool games and the demands of his still healing body sapped his energy.

Stumbling slightly he unlocked their door and slipped inside. The curtains had been closed, but a single lamp shone in a pool of golden light by the door.

They'd left the light on for him.

His girls were fast asleep in the bed they'd pushed up against the wall before he left. A quick trip to the bathroom to strip down to his boxers and brush his teeth. Then Alec could finally lie down and rest.

Max and Tara were in the position they had become accustomed to in the last few nights. Tara closest to the wall, Max behind her, back to the room. Alec slipped into bed next to them, curving his larger body around them both, putting himself between them and anything that might come through the door. Half-asleep he nuzzled into Max's hair and laid his arm over hers where it lay protectively around Tara's middle.

Dimly he registered Max wriggling closer to his body in her sleep, but exhaustion was already claiming him and he drifted off.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews for the last chapter. They were much appreciated. Made my day after a toughtime at work. The computer is on its way to being fixed, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

So here you go, chapter ten of my going on longest story ever written. By hand no less.

Another thing that may strike you as amusing. I had this plan for the story, with many notes written on it. The last two lines were They save Tara and Alec and Max make it back to Manticore, growing closer along the way. Now correct me if I am wrong, but the saving Tara bit was in chapter four I think. Who knew a single sentence could become the bulk of the fic.

Oh and what Tara does halfway through the chapter, our little neighbour across the road said that abozt my brother whois 27 now. Had us in stitches at the time. 

There are a couple of swearwords in this chapter. Ye be warned.

**Chapter Ten**

It was the little things that finally got to Alec, tumbling from like through lust and into love.

The time when Max got bored with the radio being stuck on one station and decided to fix it. Mid drive 'cause it takes too long to stop'. Flipping around she had hooked her feet behind the headrest and leaned backwards under the dashboard. Her shirt rode up to expose a tiny sliver of her toned stomach and he had almost veered off road, causing her to bang her head somewhere. The string of extremely colourful curse words in six languages threw Tara into shocked giggles. The radio did work better after that though.

Nights became a new form of torture, whether they ended up sleeping like the first night, Tara a warm weight on one side and Max behind her, or with him behind Max, spooning her through the night. For somebody who claimed to need no sleep cause of shark DNA, Max sure didn't seem to have trouble sleeping now.

And boy could that girl move through the night, would put a lap dancer to shame, wriggling and shifting against him. On more than one occasion he had had to sneak to the bathroom at a ridiculously early time. Locking himself in, shower at full blast, he stepped manfully into the icy torrents, shivering, belly tight with lust, until it faded beneath the onslaught of freezing water.

She had this habit of prancing around in panties and skimpy tank tops, sitting cross-legged on the floor, Tara in her lap, as she quizzed the girl on her letters and numbers.

The domesticity of it all got to him next, the sheer normalcy of it. It became the norm for landlords and waitresses to treat them as a family, asking if their daughter needed anything else and 'ain't she just the spitting image of you two darlins.' The first time it happened he froze in shock, sure somebody was going to jump out from behind a wall and blow their cover.

Soldiers aren't supposed to play happy families.

It filled him with a warm glow. His soul yearning for something he had convinced himself he could not have.

It frightened and tickled him pink when Tara began to relax around him, leaning into him when she became tired. Letting him carry her, a warm limp weight in his arms. The feeling of her head lolling against his shoulder a phantom pain he felt for hours afterwards. The three of them were drifting, living the fantasy and he didn't want to give it up. Couldn't fathom giving his girls up.

* * *

Max felt like there were ants dancing under her skin. She had grown up at Manticore, had never had the opportunity to develop any form of self-consciousness. Embarrassment was unknown.

Group showers and frequent physicals ensured that they had never had the chance to become uncomfortable around each other. Differences just were. It didn't matter what package your bomb disposal technician came in, you just wanted to be damn sure that it didn't blow up around your ears. Growing up in extended family units with a healthy dose of feline DNA meant that more often than not they ended up in a large pile on the bed of whoever had gone to sleep first.

She'd grown up with men and woman that could easily make their living on the catwalk, preternaturally beautiful and compelling. Faces and bodies trained to perfection. She had thought nothing of walking around her family half naked.

Something about Alec though was different, made her nervous, self-conscious, feeling as if her skin was alternately too small or too big.

She was acutely, excruciatingly aware of his body, a warm presence in the back of her mind. Could pinpoint his position with her eyes closed. More than once, while playing with Tara in another one of their dingy motel rooms, or waiting for their food to come, she had glanced up moments before he came into view.

And there was another thing. Insomnia had plagued her all her life. Although 'plague' was a strong word, considering she didn't actually suffer from lack of sleep.

And now she slept for seven or eight hours at a time, almost dreamlessly. Curled into their bed, Tara a warm weight on one side, Alec a solid presence at her back, comforting and soothing.

This Alec teased her senses, endlessly frustrating and intriguing. Glimpses of the old Alec were still there. The Alec she had grown up with, had challenged at everything Manticore threw at them, to the exclusion of all others. He could still be just as snarky as she remembered. His smart-Alec tendencies shining through, witty quips raining from his lips in a never-ending torrent.

And then there was the new Alec. The man that patiently waited for Tara to come to him, knowing that the little girl needed to be in control, needed time to realise that not all men were like her family.

The man that could sit for hours on end as Tara skittered back and forth, drawn to him but shy of taking that last step. Who smiled with genuine pleasure the first time she fell asleep against him, not to wake when he gathered her up and carried her to bed, tucking her in for the night.

This new Alec held doors open for them, walked with their hands linked. Steered them gently along crowded walkways, his hand a warm presence in the small of her back. She told herself it was just to keep up appearances, but something inside her said this was different.

And then there was the ring. It made sense of course. They were masquerading as a couple with a young child and the absence of a wedding band had caused raised eyebrows on more than one occasion. People were more conservative on the back roads of America, more likely to remember you, if you broke the norm. While it was unlikely that the Maclays were following them, why take chances. There were other threats out there. And so one day Alec had come back with a matching set of wedding bands, simple gold rings he had probably picked up at a pawn shop.

It felt weird. He had taken her hand and slipped the ring in place, sliding it easily past her knuckles. It rested coldly at the base of her finger until her body heat had warmed it up. And then she did the same for him, cheeks staining pink at the intimacy of the moment.

The first couple of days she managed to snag the ring on just about everything. Too unused to the sensation of something where there had been nothing before. And then from one moment to the next it was a part of her, as it had always been there.

She felt poised on the edge. This Alec pulled at her, tugged at her senses, her emotions, demanding and giving. She could fall for him so easily, was breathlessly waiting for the plunge, quivering on the fringes of realisation.

And then one day she knew. Tara was watching Alec clean their truck through the window, her little hands resting on folded hands. With a dreamy sigh the little girl staked her claim. "Alec. My Alec."

Jealousy blossomed in Max like a flower.

* * *

Alec and Max were dancing around each other like cats on a hot tin roof. One would advance and the other retreat. A teasing, tempting, tiresome pas de deux.

Alec dragged a hand through his already mussed hair. The humidity was sticking to his skin, bathing him in sweat, making his skin itchy and restless. It was unseasonably hot for the time of year, the temperature jumping around ten degrees in a day, making people irritable and drowsy.

Leaning back in his chair he let his hand drop from his hair, wiping the sweat from his brow and then swiping down his bare chest. It was too hot to move, too hot to think, too hot to wear anything but the bare essentials.

And therein lay the problem. All three had stripped down to their underwear. An hour before Max and Tara had decided to sleep it out, at least until nightfall when it got cool enough to contemplate going somewhere for dinner. The two girls lay spread-eagled on top of the bedspread, letting the meagre breeze from the room's aged fan glide over their bodies.

Tara lay on her back like a little starfish, her slowly rounding limbs splayed every which way, mouth open ever so slightly. A few strands of hair were sticking damply to her forehead and neck. And even though it was too hot to be in contact with another body, one of her tiny hands was wrapped securely in one of Max's. Body contact with at least one of them seemed to be the only thing to keep her frequent nightmares at bay.

Max lay on her tummy, one knee bent slightly, skimpy pants riding low on the swell of her hips, her only other garment a bra, leaving the long line of her back exposed to his heated gaze. She had swept her hair up in a messy bun, leaving her neck - and bar code - exposed.

Alec's fingers dug into the arms of his chair, the wood creaking slightly in complaint at the pressure. Self-control struggled with lust. He wanted her, wanted her with every fibre of his being, yearned to go over there and let his hands slide along the sweat-slickened lines and curves of her body. Ached for it so much he could taste it.

Only two things held him in check. One was Tara sleeping so trustingly at Max's side. No was he ever going to let anything happen with the girl in the same room. And second he wanted more than a tumble out of Max, much, much more. Frightingly more. He wanted everything. Her waking and her sleeping hours. Her last thought at night and her first in the morning. Beauty and looks.

God knew she had all of him.

Dragging his hands through his hair once more, Alec jumped up to take another lukewarm shower.

And Max's eyes snapped open.

* * *

She could feel his gaze on her body like a weight, tracking and marking, charting the contours, dips and swells of her body. She didn't dare move, her body aflame with desire, belly filled with liquid heat, breasts swelling, tightening.

He was across the room from them, in the ratty armchair by the door. Max didn't have to open her eyes to know that. Heat rolled off him in waves, laden with tantalising elements of sweat, male and Alec.

She ached to go over, straddle his lap and lick her way up his neck to that delectable mouth of his. Could practically feel the muscles in chest jump and twitch beneath the palms of her hands, their combined sweat almost an oil, making them slip and slide over each other. She wanted him inside her, be as close to him as she possibly could.

Max knew that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. It was there in every word, every touch, every look.

And she didn't know what he was waiting for. Well apart from the obvious of course. Tara needed them almost constantly, her sleep fraught with nightmares. Needed constant reassurance in daylight that they were there, were not going to leave her. There were quiet moments too, though, late at night and early in the morning. Hours when he could have done something, anything. And yet he held back, held himself in check, when all she wanted to do was jump his bones and then spend the rest of her life with him.

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of a door. Alec was no longer in his chair. Must have gone for a walk, now that it was finally cooling down a little. Gone for a walk instead of doing what she desperately wanted him to do - drag her off somewhere to have his wicked way with her.

Christ, but she needed a cold shower. 


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Okay, this is as close as I have ever come to raunchy stuff, managed to avoid it before now, apart from a single speech in gold chains. And I mortally afraid that it is a letdown after the tension of the last chapter. So, yeah, let me know what you think, but kindly. constructive criticism is welcome, nay needed on this subject. I do not want to sound like one of those bodice rippers with the purple pages. 

**Chapter Eleven**

Groggily Max disentangled herself from Tara's clutches, soothing the little girls distressed whimpers with a loving hand.

Still half-asleep she dug through her bags for, pulling out a clean pair of panties and a thin tank top. her bra was digging into her skin, not really designed to be worn all night as well as all day.

Absently she noticed that it was time to do the laundry once again. They would have to look for a laundrette tomorrow. Tara loved to help sort through the washing and with the powder. Alec would lift her on top of the machine or sit with her in front of it and play sock-races.

Pre-occupied with plans for the coming week,already contemplating what they should wear when they finally managed to make it back to Manticore, Max failed to register the noise of the shower coming from the other room.

Juggling her clothes and various shower paraphernalia, she pushed the bathroom door open with her shoulder, closed it behind her, turned and froze. Clothes and bottles slipped from her suddenly limp hands, fluttering and clattering to the floor. She could only stare, unable to do anything but deal with impressions, not the whole picture.

The ripple of muscles as Alec washed his chest. Water cascading on his head, dripping from his hair, trailing down his spine.

Her mouth went dry, as her inner voice cheered at the hotel management's decision to install glass shower doors in all their rooms.

Suds were trailing down his arms and legs, her eyes following the movement almost reflexively. Her breath came hard and fast, feet rooted to the ground even as he turned, one hand wiping water from his eyes, the other opening the partition.

She gasped as she finally saw all of him, the noise snapping his eyes open.

Max couldn't help herself as her gaze wandered his body, from his feet, up long, strong legs,a taut belly with more than a hint of a sixpack, his chest, broad shoulders, blazing green eyes that held her transfixed.

Alec stared into her brown eyes, seeing lust there, but also affection, dare he say it love? There was no Tara to stop him, her eyes had answered all his doubts. Never taking his eyes off her for even a second, he took one slow, deliberate step forward, moving into her personal space.

Petrified that she would turn and run, he kept his movements unhurried, his hand slowly lifting to cradle her cheek. Pleasure hummed inside him as his actions had her eyes fluttering closed, face turning into his palm. A knot of tension he had not felt until that moment unravelled and melted away.

"I'm going to kiss you now." he whispered.

Max opened her eyes and smirked at him. "Took you long enough."

Alec grinned, 'aw shucks' expression firmly in place. Shrugging one shoulder, he shifted his hand to the back of her neck, fingers spearing into her hair, thumb rubbing across her barcode, and pulled her in.

Max's breath caught in her throat as his face came closer, eyes sliding closed once more. A giggle burst like a bubble as their noses bumped and Alec pulled back slightly to grin at her. A shift on her side, rising slightly on her tiptoes, a slant of his head and finally their lips met, the barest brush of a touch.

Max's breath left her body in a soft sigh, herlips parting slightly and then it was as if tehr was no air left or needed as his tongue dipped past her lips, enticing, begging to reciprocrate.

'Church tongue.' the thought bubbled up in her head, bobbing briefly in the sea of lust-addled brain, before sinking away again.

Finally their lips parted, both panting for breath, foreheads just touching.

"I-" Max's voice broke.

Alec nodded slowly. "I just need to-" he swallowed heavily. "Just let me -"

Words failing once more in the face of Max's flushed countenance he decided tojust dive in instead, slanting his mouth over hers, pulling her in closer until he could feel her all along his body.

Max hummed in her throat as passion seemed to consume ther in an inferno. Her arms snaked around his neck, body straining for him, stumbling slightly as he pushed her back against the door, slamming into it.

His hands slid over her barely clad body, one hand caressing her hip, the other pulling a knee up to ride his hip, settling between her thighs as if he had never been anywhere else. His mouth moved along her jaw, kissing and nipping the skin he had only dreamed about, breath harsh and panting in her ear.

And then his mouth was over hers again and all she oculd feel was him, branding her skin his. She needed more, pulling him closer still, bracing herself to jump slightly and slider other leg around him, muscles tensing beneath his hands. Could feel him shift hsi stance to aid her movement and -

Tara's petrified scream broke their haze, tearing them apart quicker than a bucket of cold water.  
Max blinked rapidly, to clear her dazed eyes, lips swollen and glistening, chest heaving.

her eyes fell on Alec, as he slung a towel around lean hips, water still dripping from his hair to his shoulders and down his chest, one eyebrow raised in question, eyes unable to mask his trepidation, his wonderment as to what her reaction would be now that the first lustful haze had been broken.

"This isn't over, Max." It came out mroe question than he would have liked.

"Not by a long shot." Max answered with a smile. She pressed a quick tender kiss to his lips, before turning and sliding out of the room, rushing to Tara's side to lull her back into peaceful sleep.

Alec watched her go, set off kilter by the rapid change in their relationship. Shrugging his shoulders he turned and went back under the cold shower. 


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Sorry for the extremely, unconscionably long delay, but I just couldn't for the life of me think up a way to get them into bed together. I mean what was i supposed to do with Tara? And then I finally had an epiphany. You know one of those 'slap your head why the hell didn't I think of that sooner' moments.

And then when I finally had the solution, angst came and blindsided me and kidnapped me. It was traumatic. having said that this is the second last chapter and I have the other written in longhand, only waiting to be typed.

Another reason why this took so long is because I have never before written sex before. Everything I wrote sounded tacky and cheesy and 'take me now, big boy'. UGH! I take my hat off to everybody who can write this and make it sexy and hot and just plain brilliant. Kudos to you. I just hope it is not too bad, or will get me banned from this site. I don't think I said too much. And it is rated M. Now I am going to worry.

**Chapter Twelve**

The next few days were as frustrating as they were exciting. Every hour brought them closer to Manticore and the end of their trip.

Stolen kisses and caresses, glances full of meaning, shared smiles. And they talked, talked the hours away as they watched over Tara's sleep, cuddled up together in an armchair or on the bed, stolen kisses humming through the night.

Talked of their hopes, yet carefully restraining themselves from making concrete plans, committing too much, worried about their superiors actions. It was too new to discuss a future together.

And beneath that the constant sexual tension, it shone from Max's eyes when she saw Alec, practically vibrated from him, ratcheting up the need minute by minute and hour by hour.

Yet always Tara stood between them. Not that Alec minded or resented her for it. They were at the point where Alec would have willingly laid down his life for both of the girls, would do anything to keep this newcomer to his life safe and happy. Max meanwhile revelled in the normalcy of it, mothering the little girl for all she was worth. Every day they felt more like a family, possessions such as clothes and books and toys building up as they travelled ever further to the north-west and home.

Underneath it all Max really just wanted to rip Alec's clothes off and have her wicked way with him. Yes it was great that they were talking and cuddling, connecting on more than the sexual level, but she wanted the sex, too dammit.

Alec strolled along the road watching his girls window-shop, an indulgent smile on his face. Yes, it was wasting time they would be better off spending on the road. The first duty of a soldier was to get back to his unit, but the delay was worth it as far as he was considered. Seeing Tara skip along the sidewalk in her dungarees and bubblegum pink tee, hair in slightly uneven pigtails made it all worth it. Her feet were in little slippers that looked a bit like cut-off chucks. A smear of something dark, probably the chocolate milk she had had with her breakfast, was on her cheek. All in all she looked adorable, dragging Max along for the ride by one hand, darting here and there, after things that caught her fancy.

It warmed Alec's heart to see her actt the way a child her age should. She had even begun to ask for 'one more'. One more game. One more bedtime story. He didn't - couldn't - begrudge her this piece of normality, or the demands she put on their time It was worth it, just to see the smile light up here face, the pinched, wary look fading away, cheeks slowly rounding, every minute more she spent in blissful sleep instead of fraught with nightmares. It felt like he was finally responsible for something good in his life, something innocent and normal. Usually he was there only for the aftermath, the end results of human tragedy. Plane crashes and genocide, kidnappings and assassinations. All that pulled at him, tainted his soul, just one more mark against him. And now he had a little girl depend upon him to make her feel better, protect her and get it right. It was terrifying and gratifying all in one go. When she looked at him with big eyes, smiling trustingly up at him, he felt like he could rip up trees and transplant mountains.

Or at the very least find a solution to hid problem of getting alone with Max long enough so they could complete their union, could finally make her his in every way that counted, without leaving Tara alone to the mercies of her nightmares.

'There has to be a solution, dammit.' he muttered to himself, making sure he was out of Max's earshot. She didn't like it when he swore in front of their charge, or within hearing distance, or within sight. 'Think brain, think.' But a solution stubbornly refused to present itself and so he wandered after max and Tara as they meandered down the sidewalk.

And then suddenly the solution was there in a Technicolor glory of primary colours and glitter. It was so obvious, Alec could have slapped himself. Checking to see that his girls were still happily engrossed in a clothes display, he slipped into the shop he had seen and bough three very important items. Then as an afterthought he went into the drugstore next door and picked up a fourth, just in case Max wasn't up to date with her shots.

Blind luck was on his side and he had made it back to Max and Tara's side before the girls noticed his absence, purchases shoved hidden from view in his rucksack.

An hour later they were back on the road and moving closer to their final destination once more. Another two days on the road should do it.

That night Alec chose a motel much earlier than usual, putting aside Max's enquiring glance with a shrug and a smile. She didn't comment though, mostly because she was dreading the end of their trip as much as he was, worried about Lydecker's reaction when he heard she was not willing to give up Tara.

And she wanted to tie Alec to her in every way possible before they returned, afraid to lose what they had, couldn't fathom going back to what had been before, when she was alone.

She couldn't figure out how to get what she wanted though. Knew on an intellectual level that Tara migth be better off with a normal family, with mother, father, siblings, but her newly discovered maternal side rejected that out of hand. Tara was hers and she would fight tooth and nail to keep her. Just like Alec was hers, just as soon as she could think up a way to make it so irrevocably.

The slamming of the truck door roused her from her increasingly morose thoughts and she watched through the windshield as Alec went in to register them. He came back, whistling a jaunty tune that had Tara smiling widely and bouncing along in no time.

Dinner was a quiet, unhurried affair. Max felt, it was because every tiny thing brought them closer to Manticore and the end of their trip from reality. Every dinner, every break, every night's sleep and extending one for as long as they could would somehow make the trip last longer.

It made her restless and jittery, turning to frustration as it seemed Alec was unaffected, keeping up a lively debate with Tara during the meal. Drawing the girl out of herself as they debated the relative merits of Bugs Bunny versus Daffy Duck.

And all the while Alec was shooting her heated glances, slow lazy looks that warmed her blood and woke butterflies in her stomach. Seducing her as effectively with words as he had with touch and hands days before.

She hated it, dammit! Riling her up like this, knowing there was precious little they could do about it, that fulfilment lay far out of reach as long as Tara was with them. Rendering it impossible for the next oh, ten years, as she would never leave the girl to fend for herself for even a minute if she could help it. Frustration built and spawned anger as Alec, oblivious to her increasingly stormy looks, continued to flirt with her while laughing with Tara.

'He is so gonna pay.' Max thought to herself with relish as she stabbed her salad into submission. 'Two can play that game.'

And for the rest of the meal, Max flirted for all she was worth, playing footsie under the table, slowly licking her lips to get the last specks of sauce, watching with satisfaction as Alec gulped hard occasionally, more than discomfited. Of course her plan backfired somewhat as the sexual tension played off both of them until she felt she was just about ready to burst.

It was a quiet group that headed to their room, which turned out to be a two-bedroom suite that had Max's eyebrows rise in wonder. She glared at Alec and was just about to make a cutting remark to the insufferable man, when said man went first.

"I got you a surprise, Tara." And smiled as the child's mouth formed an excited grin. It was proof of the progress she had made, that she was bouncing on her heels, body language screaming 'gimme', even if she would never state it out loud.

"Hang on a moment while I get it, honey." And Alec went to rummage through his rucksack, shoving things aside in his haste to find his gifts. Finally he pulled out a red and yellow plastic bag and after removing a box and stuffing it back out of sight, handed it to the little girl.

"I didn't have time to wrap it. Hope you don't mind."

Tara simply shook her head fiercely, hair flying as she clutched the bag protectively to her chest. Scuttling over to the bed she plopped down on it and began to slowly unfold the bag, trying to prolong the anticipation as much as possible. She wasn't used to presents, the novelty large enough that something like this became a big deal.

Max meanwhile was quivering for a different reason. She hadn't been able to see what Alec had shoved back into his rucksack, but she had seen the box of condoms and that, together with the gifts that Tara was unpacking even at that moment - a stuffed pig and a nightlight - made her draw her own conclusions.

Alec, oblivious to the increasingly icy look on his prospective lover's face, was spinning his wrapt audience of one an elaborate tale on the reasoning behind his gifts.

"So Tara-girl, everybody knows that kids need a stuffed toy." He waited for Tara to nod uncertainly. This was after all news to her.

"Cause this one here is special, he's a really strong pig and protects little girls at night."

Tara couldn't hide her snort of disbelief. Alec looked at her in mock astonishment.

"You don't believe me? I am shocked Tara-girl. Your little pig here comes out at night and storms down nightmares." He sent the little pig rooting into Tara's side, reducing her to a pile of helpless giggles.

Then he unpacked the nightlight, a palm-sized gold star, that once plugged in send a soothing yellow light into the room.

"I had a nightlight, too, when I was your age." He didn't say that his nightlight has been the corridor lights outside the dorm room that housed his familial unit. The little girl did not need to know that.

Tara, unable to express her delight in words, threw herself into his arms and hugged him for all she was worth. Alec's arms went round her in gratified surprise, as she had never before instigated physical contact. Eyes glimmering with emotion barely suppressed, a tiny bit of triumph showed as he saw the first step of his plan fall into place. The look faded quickly into confusion when his eyes met Max's frosty gaze, filled with disapproval and even mild distaste.

He sat there with an 'what did I do' look on his face, watching as Max chivvied Tara along into the bathroom and starting her a bubble bath.

He was still in the same position when she came back into the room, almost closing the door behind her with a cheery: "You get started in there, sweetie and I will be along in a minute."

Fishing something he couldn't see from his backpack, she roughly dragged him to the other side of the room and let him have it in a low hiss.

"So, this is your plan, stud? Foist the girl off with a nightlight and a frigging stuffed pig to keep her company?" She waved the condoms in his face, too mad to register the wounded look on Alec's face.

"And what do we do in the meantime? You fuck my brains out, Alec? Is that it? Ignore the orphan in the next room for our pleasure? Who the hell do you think you are? God's fucking gift? I thought you were different. You're just as shallow as all the rest."

With a huff of disgust she made to turn, only to squeak in surprise when Alec hauled her back round again to face him, face him and his righteous anger.

"Are you even listening to yourself Max? You honestly believe all this-" he waved a hand around to encompass the room, the presents and everything else. " is just so I could fuck you? To use your oh so elegant expression."

Max flared up. "I don't see you denying, jackass."

Alec's jaw ticked and he stormed back aways to his rucksack, rooting around in it for the third present, that Max had ignored in her quest to prove the worst of him and shoved it into her hands.

"Would you let me explain? You harpy." His voice softened with affection, eyes glinting with amusement as he made to push back a lock of her hair only to have her bat at his hand like a spiteful kitten.

"What is this?" Max shook the box in her hands, refusing to be taken in and let her anger go that easily.

"It is a baby phone. Says so right on the box." He tapped it with one finger.

Moving in a little closer he continued: "I'm not asking you to ignore her, Max. Far from it. Couldn't stand if something happened to her. She's been scared and hurt enough. But I want you. By my side and in my bed." He sighed.

"This is what all parents do when their kids can't sleep at night. Make sure we are there when she wakes and needs us."

Max stared at him, mouth agape, then smiling. Studying him for a long second, she realised that he hadn't really realised all that he had admitted with those words, all the fears he had laid to rest.

Alec smiled tentatively in return and then gasped slightly when Max hauled him in and kissed the daylights out of him.

He was still reeling when Max pulled free and smiled once more.

"I'd better go and help Tara with her bath."

And she turned and was gone, leaving Alec reeling once more at her lightning changes of mood.

Max stood uncertainly in the door between the two rooms, self-consciously tugging at the hem of her shirt, looking everywhere but at the man waiting for her in their bed. This was new territory and she was more nervous than she cared to admit.

"Tara asleep?" Alec's quiet, deep voice jolted her from her reverie and she flushed.

"Yeah, dropped off ten minutes ago. Brought this." She held up the baby phones, four gently glowing bars showing that it was working and receiving.

"That's good." Alec said, refraining from asking what had kept her so long if Tara was already asleep for a good ten minutes. "Any problems?"

Max took a cautious step into the room, closing the door behind her. "No, she's curled up hugginh Mr. Fantastico for all she's worth."

"Mr. Fantastico?" Alec lifted a brow in amusement.

Drifiting further into the room, Max let a finger trail over the dresser by the door, flashing him a quick grin.

"Didn't you know? That is his name."

She set the receiver down on the dresser and chanced a look at Alec, who still had made no move to change his position.

"I put your bag into the bathroom." He stated quietly and she saw with reassurance that that same strain of nervousness seemed to be running through him.

Max smiled, belly tight with tension, anticipation and a dozen other emotions she could not name. A part of her just wanted to jump Alec, rip his clothes off and have her wicked way with him.. The other part quivered with excitement, anticipating the final step after what she recognised now as years of stepping around each other. Neither of them were innocents of course. Alec had a bit of a reputation around the base and she herself had done some experimenting in her late teens. There was no simpering virgin in the room, so what was holding her back exactly? Why play a role she just wasn't?

"That's sweet of you Alec." She gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head and off. "But I think I will just dive right in."

Alec grinned right back, lust simmering in his eyes and crawled to the edge of the bed just in time to stop Max's hands as they moved on to her jeans.

"Allow me."

"Playing the gentleman, Alec?"

He flashed a smirk, slowly unzipping her pants and pushing them off her hips.

"I assure you my motives are entirely ungentle manly."

Max's giggle drowned in a soft gasp as Alec placed a kiss on her stomach and then gently nuzzled her skin, taking in her scent and making it his.

Warmth gathered in her belly and she sighed, hands lifting to rest on his head, stroking her fingers through his silky hair, rubbing lightly at the base of his neck, humming with contentment. Simply being in the moment.

It didn't last for long as Alec looked up at her, eyes gleaming. "You joining me any time soon?"

Max laughed, couldn't believe how easy he was making this, how natural it felt. She shoved his shoulders hard enough to send him on his back and leaned in, lips hovering over his before slipping aside and meeting his neck in a feather light kiss.

He growled and grabbed her hips, flipping them both around so she lay beneath him, immobilising her hands above her head.

"Teasing isn't nice, Maxie."

His warm breath shivered over her skin, raised goose bumps and swirled a low heat through her. She only just had time to brace herself when he dove on, mapping her skin with hands and lips and tongue and teeth.

Pleasure hummed through her veins, warmed her skin and filled her heart.

In the end it was unbearably easy, sliding together as his length filled her, he r legs rising up to cradle his hips, arms sliding around his neck and down his back. Pulling him closer on a sigh, her hips rocking up to bring him deeper.

Alec squeezed his eyes shut as her body welcomed him in wet heat as if he had never been anywhere else. One hand tangled in her hair and the other travelled her hip to hitch her leg just a little bit higher. Captured her sigh with is lips as he pulled himself away and rocked back, shivering as she clenched around him, as if unwilling to have him leave the shelter of his body.

It became almost a fight, her trying to keep him in, he intent on keeping it slow, painfully slow. They couldn't keep it going forever and the battle broke when Max gave in.

"Please, Alec, faster."

Two pairs of eyes, blind with lust, meshed and held as he slid away from her and then surged back, arching her back Max received him, rocking her hips to meet his, the pace increasing as she egged him on with gasps and pleas.

"Faster"

"Harder"

She finally fell apart in his arms on a slow wave and came down with his name on her lips, hand cradling his head to her neck as he surged into her once more and spilled himself in the depths of her body.


	13. Chapter 13

****

Chapter Thirteen

General Lydecker sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose, wishing he could snap his fingers and just make it all go away.

The Pulse, as the population had come to know the terrorist attack that rocked their world and destroyed their way of life, had thrown down a shit storm on everything Manticore stood for and had tried to accomplish for the last decades. Latest intel pointed at the familiars as the instigators of this disaster, no doubt intent on wiping Manticore facilities from the face of the Earth. Fortunately their knowledge had been faulty.

While the Pulse had indeed managed to hit their databases hard, only recent entries had been lost. A mandatory backup order was in place, going into effect every four weeks. The last back up had been done two weeks before the pulse. The backup system itself was buried a kilometre deep in an old salt mine behind feet-thick walls of lead.

If the Familiars had managed to launch their attack during one of the back up sessions, which might have been their intent, then the effect would have been catastrophic, all would have been lost, the decades of research into the threat the Conclave posed, the libraries of information wiped clean in the blink of an eye. All they would have been left with was a months worth of printouts.

The Familiars no doubt believed them destroyed at best and severely incapacitated at worst. Granted contact had been lost with their agents in the field, but he had faith in his soldiers. They would find a way back, indeed most of them already had, those overseas at the time of the attack either arriving without a word, or sending coded messages giving an estimated time of arrival.

Yet even as they all returned to the place of their birth, their home for most of their lives, Lydecker and his superiors were putting Operation Aeneid into motion. Manticore would disband and disperse, hiding away among the civilian population until such as time-

A firm knock on the door interrupted his train of thought, or wool-gathering more like as he had more than enough to do without getting distracted by already finished plans.

"Yes, come in."

The door opened slightly and his secretary poked her head in, a flustered look on her normally unflappable visage. Seeing as she was usually a stickler for formality Lydecker was intrigued enough to forgive her the breach of military protocol.

"Um, sir, Agents X5-494 and X5-452 have reported back to base. Shall I send them in for debriefing? Sir?"

Lydecker nodded. "Go right ahead. And send some refreshments in, would you?"

His secretary nodded and opening the door wider, stepped aside to let in 452 and 494. Only Lydecker's legendary self-control prevented his jaw from dropping as he saw what had his staff so flustered.

It wasn't two people that entered, but three. Two tall and one- short.

Max stepped into the room first, a little girl holding tightly onto her left hand, Alec behind her, one hand clearly resting in the small of his partner's back.

Nobody spoke a word as the two soldiers and the little girl stepped up to his desk and stood to attention. Well his two soldiers stood to attention and snapped off a salute to their commanding officer.

"X5-452 and X5-494 reporting for debriefing, sir."

Lydecker leaned back in his chair and took in the changes a few weeks had wrought. This surpassed even his wildest expectations.

These two stubborn-headed individuals seemed to have finally got their act together. And seemed to have picked up some luggage on the way. He glanced at the little girl clinging to Max's leg with one arm, even as the other held on to Alec's pant leg.

This worked out nicely. Very nicely indeed. He resisted the impulse to rub his hands together with glee. Such a cliché. Instead he nodded at Alec to continue and listened with a placid gaze to the recounting of their experiences. No doubt slightly edited for his benefit. He only just managed to hide his amusement when he heard that Alec had been shot again. The man was a magnet for bullets. No mistake about it.

The debriefing wound to a close and Lydecker waved the trio over the group of chairs in the corner of his room. It hit him with some amusement that it was Alec, Tara turned to, curling up in his lap instead of Max's as he had expected.

"Well, as soon as possible I will pass on your intel to local law enforcement and they can take it from there. Maybe see if some of the girls can be traced back to their families and returned."

Lydecker leaned back in his chair. He watched silently as refreshments were brought in and Max did the honours, passing around the coffee, and placing a tall glass of milk in front of Tara.

"No doubt you have speculated some on the cause of the Pulse." He waited for Alec and Max to nod.

"I will not bore you with the details, they will be in your files on your next assignment, suffice to say that it was indeed a direct attack on Manticore by the Familiars. Our enemy is mobilising and as a result some of our more nebulous ideas doe the future have been pulled forward and are being put into action as we speak." He sighed heavily.

"I don't like it, but there it is. Manticore is spreading across the world."

A man with less perception than Lydecker might have missed the effect this statement had on the two soldiers in his office. Their hands twitched towards each other, while Alec's arm tightened slightly around Tara. Then again if Lydecker wasn't perceptive he wouldn't be General.

"Codename Aeneid. Manticore will spread out, no more than three to five in any given city. Preliminary objectives include monitoring public opinion and making contact with prospective allies in the fight against the Familiars. As an example the USA will be split into four sections, each section with a rank leader, the other transgenics will be required to report to on a regular basis."

"What about Joshua?" Max couldn't help herself from asking the question. She had met the self-proclaimed 'nomily' on one of her frequent night time jaunts and quickly built a rapport with the highly intelligent artist. Sadly his pronounced canine features made it impossible for him to leave the compound, but he filled in as one of the teachers in the X-7 crèche and painted surrealist works in his spare time.

Lydecker knew all this of course and didn't rebuke her outburst, even though a more conventional military commander might have.

"Joshua and the other 'nomilies' are going to provide backup. Stick to our out of the way safe houses until we can find a new, more permanent solution for them, where neither humans nor familiars can get at them. They will be our first team when it comes to building a new base. The board is floating the idea of a private island off Nova Scotia. No pun intended."

Lydecker could see Max relax as he put her fears to rest. It didn't bother him to be held accountable in a way to his subordinates. He just saw it as a good sign. Both Max and Alec had a very healthy sense of protectiveness where their fellow transgenics were concerned, something that bode well for the future.

"What about us?" Alec asked.

Lydecker hid his smirk, there was no way he could have missed the change in pronouns that told him exactly what he wanted to know, even if their body language hadn't already done it for them. He shuffled around some files for appearances' sake.

"You two are going to Seattle with Biggs and Cece. There is a faction there that needs checking out. Calls himself Eyes Only, knight in shining armour to the oppressed masses. We will see if he is willing to actually get his hands dirty when push comes to shove. Manticore has organised an apartment for you in the area.

"The rest of your units will be spread out on the West Coast, with family visits allowed, even encouraged. And Uncle Donald may be by for the odd visit."

He glanced at them both and the picture they represented.

"Of course to facilitate the mission it would be necessary for you to pose as a family. That will not be a problem I hope?"

He watched his two best, and favourite, soldiers exchange a glance, already knowing what their answer would be.

"No, I don't think it will."

The End.


End file.
